Bishops want Neocatechumenal Way to leave Japan for 5 years
CWN - December 17, 2010
The Japanese bishops have asked the Neocatechumenal Way to leave Japan for five years, Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki said on December 15. A group of Japanese prelates met with Pope Benedict and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on December 13 to discuss their concerns about the lay movement.
Tensions between the Japanese hierarchy and the lay movement culminated in the 2008 closing of a seminary operated by the Neocatechumenal Way in Takamatsu. The seminary, which had helped make Japan a vocation-rich nation, reopened in Rome with a retired Japanese bishop as rector.
Japanese bishops have complained that the group’s activities are secretive and that its activities, including its manner of celebrating the sacred liturgy, harm the unity among the faithful. “They say they want to be obedient to the bishop in whose diocese we work, but they don’t do it, not completely, anyway, not sufficiently or in the proper way,” said Archbishop Takami, who has banned the movement from his diocese.
In 2005, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments ordered the movement to cease certain liturgical abuses. Three years later, Pope Benedict approved a new set of statutes for the movement.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
|
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus: Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you! |
Easter Campaign: Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($20,973 to go):
$80,000.00
$59,027.50
26%
74%
|
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: marttywinston6762 -
Dec. 17, 2010 8:52 PM ET USA
How does the Church discern between "sect-like" and a movement or religious order that is different and therefore somewhat separate from the surrounding Catholic community?
-
Posted by: Father Fetus -
Dec. 17, 2010 8:38 AM ET USA
Could they be gnasty gnostics?
