An Amusing List of Neocat Catch Words & Phrases w/ Definition - from Neocat Survivors

 The following list is a compilation from a subreddit group of survivors of the Neocatechumenal Way Cult. It is posted here with permission from the page admin:

• shit: you.

• the old man: you, more formally.

• bourgeois: also you. Basically a normal person. Kiko does not like them.

• alienated: to live a normal life.

• neurotic: having normal human reactions.

• natural religiosity: a slur for any form of faith that is not neocatechumenal.

• kerygma: you are shit, but God loves you. You are still shit. The good news.

• revealed anthropology: death-anxiety makes you a slave to the devil.

• circle of death: a closed loop of fear and ego that makes it impossible for you to love anybody. That is why you need us.

• ontological: random philosophical word. Mostly paired with death.

• ontological death: not literal death. Meaning uncertain. Possibly something close to a feeling of void.

• existential: dark, confused, pseudo-philosophical talk.

• idol: literally everything. The biggest ones are money and sex.

• your demons: your private thoughts. Especially those questioning what exactly you are doing here.

• history: the things that happen in your life.

• history of salvation: your biography, retold in NCW schema.

• love in the dimension of the cross: to be abused in any way, shape, or form.

• to lose one's life: which life?

• profound / deep: used to qualify something you just said, which was self-evident.

• god allows: God's positive, perfect will. The goal is usually humiliation.

• having your cross enlightened: rationalization of human suffering using religious language as a defense mechanism and spiritual bypass.

• you will not die: don't worry. Deployed with complete confidence in life-or-death situations.

• for your good: for our good.

• circumcise the intellect: stop thinking.

• the Church: your community, the catechists, the Neocatechumenal Way. Usually not the Catholic Church, though the ambiguity is quietly load-bearing.

• catechists: not to be confused with catechists in the Catholic sense. Group leaders.

• itinerant: upper-level catechist. Stay away.

• presbyter: priest.

• president: the presbyter during the Eucharist.

• the tripod: the three pillars of NCW life — Word, Eucharist, Community. Not to be confused with camera equipment.

• to have discernment: not a process. The catechists have it. You don't.

• scrutiny: public interrogation about matters of conscience before the assembled community.

• to obey: to do what the catechists tell you. They have discernment, remember?

• judging: expressing your point of view. Identified as a problem. Usually valid.

• guarantors: a buddy assigned to you by the catechists, who reports back to them.

• affections: a slur for any normal human emotional bond.

• to hate your father / mother: your mommy and daddy issues.

• being 1st / 2nd / 3rd child: your birth order carries hidden psychological meaning and can be used to explain your behaviour.

• latent homosexual: you are thirty and unmarried. Also deployable in other contexts. No clinical basis required.

• rebel: you don't comply with NCW doctrine.

• embittered: you left and you are angry.

• deceived by the devil: you left and you were right to.

• being a Christian: you are not one. Sometimes synonymous with being in the Way.

• it's not Christian: it is not NCW-compliant. Commonly applied to reporting abuse, crimes, etc.

• mature faith: the finished product of thought reform.

• to be free: to do everything the NCW demands. If you are Carmen: to be rude to other people.

• to make a sign: to sell something of great emotional or monetary value at the direction of the catechists.

• being open to life: officially, rejecting artificial contraception. In practice, an elastic concept that expands to cover any sacrifice the community requires. Paying the tithe is also being open to life.

• tithe: mandatory ten percent of gross income, paid to the community.

• God provides: theological cover for financial decisions that would otherwise require a risk assessment.

• be generous: we don't have the money to pay for the convivence.

• the 100th fold: can be literally anything. Definitely not a 100x monetary return on investment promised during the second scrutiny.

• Courage!: replaces genuine human emotions — compassion, acknowledgment, sitting with someone in their pain. Suitable for bereavement, abuse disclosure, marital collapse, mental health crisis, and general Tuesday afternoons. Extended forms: Courage, brother (you are alone in this); Courage, brothers (you are all alone in this, together).

• the world: everything outside NCW

• Pharaos: the bishops against NCW

• Israel's daughters: The girls in the NCW. During the pilgrimages, the catechists were used to repeat:"You shall marry the Israel's daughters"

• Scrutatio: A sort of lectio divina

• Agape: The banquet at the end of important celebrations (and your reward for listening to the catechists drone on for hours)

• encouragement: public papal slap on the wrists

• Catholic Itinerary: a Catholic movement. Definitely not a cult.

• approved by the Vatican: beyond scrutiny. (Pun intended.)

• sent by the Pope: not sent by the Pope. Received a blessing among thousands of people.

• initiators: the founders. A regular word for regular founders of a regular movement.

• crisis: doubts about God. dark / deep crisis: doubts about the Way. Considerably more serious.

• concrete facts: the hard facts of your life. Very hard.

• to fight: to be in a constant state of spiritual alertness. Indistinguishable from anxiety.

• thankful to the Way: loyal to the organization. faithful to the Way: also loyal to the organization. A slightly more advanced form.

• to stand up: to literally stand up and run onto a stage in front of thousands of people, signifying your availability for priesthood, consecrated life, or mission.

• two-by-two: a seven-day mission with a partner, no money, no plan. Resembles homelessness.

• traditio: knocking on doors, Jehovah's Witness style.

• redditio: telling your life story in front of the whole parish. Mentioning your sins is not optional — if you don't, people may even think you are a good person. Terrible.

• merkabah: the draw that assigns mission destinations by chance.

• the market: the arrangements made before the draw. The hand of God, assisted.

• being sent to the Domus: you are a teenager with multiple socio-psychological difficulties and are sent to a remote location in Israel. Neocat rehab. (How many of us know priests or seminarians sent there?!)

• berakah: blessing before a meal.

• ketubah: the marriage contract between God and the community. You are married now. Mazel tov!

• pagan: anyone not in the Way. Jews excluded.

• child of the Way: born in the group. Has never known anything else.

• to sell your birthright: to leave. Comes with complimentary threat of damnation.

• fantastic / wonderful!: deployed after someone discloses something terrible. Meaning: things are bad, but nobody cares. A close relative of Courage!

• Judas: anyone who questions or calls out the NCW on their bullshit

• crisis: having second thoughts or rebelling against the Way

• rebellion: being a normal teenager that sees the NCW as the cult and/or making shit up so you can shout it from the microphone (usually sexual in nature)

Lies and Deception: They never tell you they are with the Neocatechumenal Way

Why do they keep it from you? Why don't they ever tell you they are with the Neocatechumenal Way or what you're getting yourself into is a new subchurch, or parallel church? - because they deceive from the outset. 

Readers of the The Thoughtful Catholic might remember the "God gives you cancer guy"Francesco Gennarini,://thoughtfulcatholic.com/francesco-gennarini-cancer-is-sent-by-god/  ,nepo baby of Kiko's replacement, Giuseppi Gennarini https://thoughtfulcatholic.com/giuseppes-islands/. Recently Francesco, his latest child and his wife were seen at the recent Papal address to the Neocatechumenal Way; which was a gigantic departure from years past. 

Just four years ago the Neocatechumenal Way met with Pope Francis, as they had met with previous Popes, in the Nervi Auditorium. In all previous years the audience was full of large familes, priests, cardinals and of course, Kiko's team. Kiko led the huge crowd like he does at every Kiko gathering, singing his songs, calling on the various groups representing their countries of origin; followed by a lecture to the Pope on how the Way operates its scheme... er steps. 

https://therecord.com.au/news/international/preach-the-gospel-obey-the-church-pope-francis-tells-neocatechumenal-way/

This year, Pope Leo XVI would have none of that, opting to meet with them in the Vatican Hall of Blessings, a significantly smaller space. Kiko led no songs or lecture and no introductions to the various delegates, one being the Gennarinis.

In this Hall, the Pope went down the isle blessing two infants and one toddler, in what was otherwise a gathering of seniors citizens.  

https://zenit.org/2026/01/19/live-your-spirituality-without-ever-separating-yourselves-from-the-rest-of-the-ecclesial-body-pope-leo-xiv-to-the-neocatechumenal-way/

A recent photo was sent by a reader who fled the NCW to a parish sans NCW,  only to find they were introducing a "Lenten Mission" by none other than Francesco Gennarini and family. The ad insinuates the Pope himself sent this family to Aurora, Colorado because who is going to argue with the Pope!? "The team is composed of a priest, two young men, and a couple with their 11 children"; this couple with the 11 children, the Gennarinis, haven't traveled on mission from Rome to "spread the gospel" but rather have been living in the Denver Metro area for about a decade. How do we know? The "cancer sent by God" speech was at a church mere miles away from their new target. Junglewatch published "Confusion and Division Wherever it Goes" https://www.junglewatch.info/2016/08/neocatechumenal-way-confusion-and.html a translation from Cruxsancta (https://cruxsancta.blogspot.com/2016/08/neocatecumenado-el-arbol-malo-da-malos.html) TEN YEARS ago - this same parish was where the Thoughtful Catholic published the "Cancer is Sent by God" post. Furthermore, the Gennarini's and children have been actively involved in St. James Parish in Denver, where the NCW dominates the school and parish there. 

This "invitation to hear a word" is complete deception. Living in Colorado, going to Rome to see and be seen by the Pope,visit Rome, and return home, is far different than the Pope sending them to the parish.  This mission of theirs tries to pull at any problem you have and then manipulate the emotions into thinking the NCW has the answer to your suffering. They say God gave you that suffering rather than allowing it and then they want you to focus on that suffering, indulge in the suffering, so much so that you become proud and boastful in it and boast of your sins. 

The wallowing in sin and suffering turns them into yelling, miserable, monsters who swear at and name call the poor parishioners who were duped into thinking they were just being a good Catholic, following their pastor into a parish Lenten mission. For the Way, the presence of suffering means that God is present and therefore you should be happy, however, the absence of suffering isn't happiness, neither is the presence of suffering; but the absence of God is suffering and the presence of God is happiness. Maybe that sounds like arguing over a glass half full or empty, however, to put it more plainly,  a neocat would say "suffering brings me joy" like some sadist, whereas a true follower of Christ simply says "my joy is in the Lord". The cancer here is not one sent by God but that of the Neocatechumenal Way, and the evidence is found in parishioners with the same, sad stories all over the world. 

So you've been invited to a catechisis? https://carmenkiko.wordpress.com/2022/09/07/youve-been-invited-to-a-catechesis/'

The Forgotten Victims

The following entry is reposted, with permission,  from a person who grew up in the Neocatechumenal Way. Although the Pope's recent admonishing words were the harshest a Pope has delivered thus far, it is likely to fall on deaf ears with the leaders of the Way. Pope Leo XIV, like all previous Popes that addressed the Way in this format, took more control of the NCW audience and didn't allow the theatrics in prior years with his predecessors. Pope Leo, like his predecessors balanced praise and encouragement for the good works, with words of caution and rebuke, being more direct in his speech, perhaps because, he knows all too well the aftermath and abuses the Way inflicts on a diocese from his time cleaning up the mess in Callao, Peru. 

Sadly, it won't be enough. Those who have been in the Way, like the following writer; know all too well that Kiko and company will take only the praise and ignore the admonishments. Only a direct "cease and desist", clearly outlining exactly what they must STOP doing, might they actually listen. Furthermore, this group of "catechists"  and members, only seem to comprehend words that are yelled and emphasized with arm gestures likened to Mussolini or Stalin, or any other nerfarious dictator in history that has a podium and microphone. The following is a heartfelt, and poetic look into the lives of many who, miraculously, still hold on to faith - despite the Way, and still look to the Holy Roman Catholic Church for guidance and hope in Christ. How long must they wait? When will consolation and reconciliation come for them? How I wish the church would consider those not only left confused and abused by the Way, but all those who have LEFT the church because of the Way, and worse, those who have ceased believing  because of the Way. 

Spiritual Abuse, Institutional Betrayal, and Abuse of Conscience - Reflections on the recent Papal Audience with the Neocatechumenal Way: The Forgotten Victims

I have been reflecting on the Pope’s words during his recent meeting with the leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way. I attended those meetings many times myself, first as a child and later as an adult. I know the atmosphere well: after the "convivence" in Porto San Giorgio, where you are lofted in spiritual heights, you feel part of something extraordinary. In that context, the Pope’s warnings must have felt deflating to those present, despite his expressions of appreciation. But within the movement, the internal logic is to simply shrug it off. The mindset is that the Pope doesn’t truly know what is happening on the ground, and the only thing that matters is that we were "sent." The Church has approved us; it doesn't need to understand us. As usual, the Pope’s address was a mix of gratitude for the "good work" and warnings against "excesses." It is a familiar cycle—nothing new under the sun. By taking this approach, the institution keeps everyone satisfied: members point to the praise as a shield, and critics point to the warnings as a sword. But who is forgotten? The victims. The victims of these "excesses" are not being acknowledged. There is no call for reparation, no justice for the broken. This "balanced" approach only perpetuates the same pastoral negligence that allowed these abuses to happen in the first place.

It is painful to acknowledge, but the institution of the Catholic Church—through its priests, bishops, the Vatican, and the Pope himself—has played a role in allowing these abuses to occur. Our Mother failed to protect us. We were violated in the most sacred and intimate sanctuary that exists: our conscience. We were told we were safe within the Womb of the Church, only to be spiritually aborted. This hurt is constant. Our cries are muffled by an anonymity born of necessity, intended to protect our lives, yet leaving us to suffer in silence. We are mocked from all sides. From within, we are branded as rebellious or deceived by the devil. From without, we are dismissed as disgruntled, bitter, and angry. I turn to Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan, asking Him to look upon us with compassion. I pray that the suffering we bear in silence will eventually yield the fruit Christ intends for the Church and the world—a fruit of truth and real accountability.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

For the full context of the Pope's address to the Way with commentary go to:

https://thoughtfulcatholic.com/address-of-his-holiness-pope-leo-xiv-to-the-leaders-of-the-neocatechumenal-way/

Why Can't You Catholics Just Shut Up and Listen!?

A new storm is brewing on the southern border.

It has been a long while since we have posted, partly because all that can be pointed out about the problems with the Neocatechumenal Way has been said, not only here - but ALL OVER THE WORLD, many times over. However, the first Neocatechumenal Way Bishop in the United States (an actual bishop formed in the Way,
not just one that embraced the Way) Reverend Peter Baldacchino, of the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico has a new group to contend with. The Voice of the Catholic Faithful of the Diocese of Las Cruces -is a lay group of people that have had negative experiences in their parishes and seek to have their grievences heard.

View the video recordings of two of their meetings. The first, you'll see is testimonies of more of the same crap the Neocats have pulled everywhere they go. https://youtu.be/o2_4iX_79tg?si=9Mej4yAfgjaEUL4k

The second, the Bishop and his henchman, Vicar General Rev. Kevin Waymel, show up. After the organizers try to regain their meeting, at the 8:26 mark, Fr. Kevin Waymel, yanks the microphone away from the organizer. https://youtu.be/XAsCCZ0B7XE?si=x1YvfnpXmiuXKs_1

The issue goes something like this:

The diocese of Las Cruces is relatively small compared to surrounding diocese, however, being a small diocese means the neocats weren’t able to hide their plans for long.

It seems the parishioners there have the same negative experiences as others from all over the world when the Neocatechumenal Way infiltrates their parishes.

The Way is still doing the same deceptive tactics of “come to the parish advent mission or marriage preparation or OCIA” then, unbeknownst to the Catholic or potential Catholic, they find themselves at a Neocatechumenal Way parallel church.

The poor parishioners of Las Cruces have walked the same path that many from all of the world have
experienced:

• The parishioner voices their issues and is ignored, lied to that what they saw, heard and/or experienced didn’t happen, isn’t true or, at best, they just misunderstood.

• The parishioner tries to go through the proper channels, such as talking to their pastor first, however it turns out he’s a neocat, and the parishioner finds themself admonished, told they simply just don’t know and are left feeling as though they need to put up and shut up or leave.

• The parishioner goes to the bishop and is met with gatekeepers, these gatekeepers are also neocat, and they talk to each other and the Bishop, who is also neocat and the parishioner gets nowhere.

• These parishioners multiply and they decide to hold a meeting off church grounds, to discuss their grievances, what to do, learn and hope that, maybe, if there’s a group of them, the Bishop will hear them. The pastor hears of these gatherings, invites them to “come and listen” because they are spreading “lies and misinformation”, again, they are told they are wrong and invalid, and they just don’t understand what the Way is trying to do in their parish.

• The group continues to meet, realizing they will get nowhere trying to have their grievances heard and know that they will need a formal petition or letter, sent through the proper channels in order to get to the Pope - they organize.

• The neocats MUST convince these “simple” parishioners that they just don’t know that what they see and hear and experience is just fine. The neocats fear having ANOTHER scandal, OR that people in the area will find out they are this parallel church and they can’t dupe people into their “catechisis” anymore so they tell the people, if only they would shut up and listen and obey everything would be fine because they, the Neocats, know better about the Neocatechumenal Way and everything will be fine.

• The Bishop and pastor/vicar general show up, unannounced, to the meeting that the parishioners have paid the time and space for, off of church grounds, and take over the microphone & podium, and act as though they are in charge. The first step of the Way is what again?? HUMILITY?? Oh sweet Jesus, if it weren't so wrong and divisive it's laughable. When the parishioners try to speak up for themselves, they are shut down, interrupted, talked over, and denied the microphone and space they created for themselves.

• The Bishop and Pastor/Vicar general show disregard yet again for the people’s concerns, stating they can’t understand why the people won’t ask their questions to them, the experts of the Neocatechumenal Way.

THE ARROGANCE IS ASTOUNDING!