Neocatechumenal Way

The Neocatechumenal Way, also known as the Neocatechumenate, NCW or, colloquially, The Way, is a charism within the Catholic Church dedicated to Christian formation. It was formed in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández.

Taking its inspiration from the catechumenate of the early Catholic Church, by which converts from paganism were prepared for baptism, it provides post-baptismal formation to adults who are already members of the Church or to those far from the Church who have been attracted by the testimony of Christian life of love and unity in the communities (cf. Jn 13:35; 17:21), as proposed in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Due to numerous vocations coming from the families formed in the communities, it has also helped to establish and run over 100 missionary diocesan seminaries in various locations. They are called "Redemptoris Mater" seminaries. It is responsible for communities of "families in mission", called "Missio ad gentes", living in many cities around the World. Together with a priest and his socius, and some celibate women, they make present the Church in places of little or no Catholic presence.

The Neocatechumenate, as an itinerary of Christian initiation, is implemented in small, parish-based communities up to 50 people. In 2007 there were around 40,000 such communities throughout the World, with an estimated million Catholics following the itinerary.

The Neocatechumenal Way began in 1964 as a community of Gipsies and marginalised poor, who gathered around Francisco "Kiko" Argüello, who had come to live among them with his Bible and guitar in the shanty town of 'Palomeras Altas' in Madrid. He was then a young but already renowned Spanish painter. He was soon joined by Carmen Hernández, who linked the community to the theological and liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council, as promoted in Spain by Father Pedro Farnés. From the beginning the community was backed by the archbishop of Madrid Casimiro Morcillo González (), who had been one of the four relators during the sessions of the Council. Card. Morcillo encouraged Argüello to share their discovery with the parishes that asked for it. The community was invited to preach in the middle class parishes of Madrid. Their parishioners had no minor difficulties in meeting the new radical reality. That encounter of the poor and the bourgeois faithful, thanks to the inspiration drawn from the renewal of the Council, effected in the message and Christian itinerary of humility, simplicity and praise lived in the communities in the likeness of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Gradually the experience was embodied in a catechetical synthesis, founded on what is called the "tripod" ("Word of God-Liturgy-Community"), seeking to lead people to fraternal communion and mature faith. The Way thus spread gradually through the Archdiocese of Madrid and to other Spanish dioceses.

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