The Neocatechumenal Way: “A precious contribution to the life of the Church”

You have lit the fire of the Gospel where it seemed to be dying out.
Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV meets with 1,000 itinerant catechists from the Neocatechumenal Way

This morning, January 19, 2026, the Holy Father Leo XIV received more than 1,000 itinerant catechists in an audience in the Hall of Blessings, responsibles for the Neocatechumenal Way in 138 nations on five continents.

At the end of their convivence held at the “Servant of Yahweh” Center in Porto San Giorgio, under the guidance of the team responsible for the Way worldwide, Kiko Argüello, Father Mario Pezzi, and María Ascensión Romero met in Rome for their first encounter with the Holy Father Leo XIV.

During the convivence, as has been done every year since the Way began, participants shared the evangelization experience that the Way is carrying out in more than 6,200 parishes in 1,408 dioceses around the world to promote Christian initiation, a tool to help bishops and priests in different countries in their work of proclaiming the Gospel in today’s world.

Also present at the gathering and audience with the Holy Father were the 115 rectors of the Diocesan Missionary Seminaries that the Way has helped to open in many dioceses, together with another hundred formators.

In living together, it has been possible to see, through different experiences on different continents, the difficult situation in which the Church is called to carry out its mission today. In this global context, it has become clear that the Neocatechumenal Way is called to contribute to peace and harmony among people, bringing the hope of the Christian proclamation, the kerygma, and forming Christian communities capable of giving the signs of faith to this generation: love and unity.

The Pope’s arrival and departure were accompanied by loud and joyful applause and songs by Kiko Argüello, which the entire assembly sang along to enthusiastically.

Kiko presented the Holy Father with a copy of the icon of the Good Shepherd, painted by himself in 1982, and, since the Pope has a visit to Spain scheduled in the coming months, a publication on Madrid Cathedral, Nuestra Señora de la Almudena, where Kiko painted the mystery crown and the stained glass windows of the apse in 2004.

Pope Leo addressed those present with these words:

I would like to express my gratitude to the families who, responding to the inner prompting of the Spirit, leave behind the security of ordinary life and set out on mission, even to distant and difficult territories, with the sole desire to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to God’s love.

Itinerant teams made up of families, catechists, and priests participate in the evangelizing mission of the whole Church and… contribute to “awakening” the faith of non-Christians who have never heard of Jesus Christ.

Living the experience of the Neocatechumenal Way and carrying out the mission also requires, on your part, interior vigilance and a wise critical capacity, in order to discern certain risks that always threaten spiritual and ecclesial life.

Charisms are always placed at the service of the Kingdom of God and of the one Church of Christ, in which no gift of God is more important than any other.

The good you do is great, because its purpose is to enable people to know Christ.

Continue forward in joy and humility, without discouragement, as builders and witnesses of communion.

Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment, for your joyful witness, and for the service you render to the Church and to the world. I encourage you to continue with enthusiasm, and I bless you, invoking upon you the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that she may accompany and protect you. Thank you!

AUDIENCE OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV WITH THE RESPONSIBLES OF THE NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY

Loggia delle Benedizioni

Monday, January 19, 2026

In the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

I am happy to see so many of you here today. I greet the members of the International Team of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello, María Ascensión Romero, and Father Mario Pezzi, as well as the bishops and priests who accompany them.

A special thought goes to the families present here, an expression of your missionary zeal and of the desire that should always drive the whole Church: to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world, so that all may come to know Christ.

This same desire has always encouraged and continues to nourish the life of the Neocatechumenal Way, its charism, and the works of evangelization and catechesis that represent a precious contribution to the life of the Church. To everyone, especially to those who have drifted far away or to those whose faith has weakened, you offer the possibility of a spiritual itinerary though which to rediscover the meaning of Baptism, so that they may recognize the gift of grace received and, therefore, the call to be disciples of the Lord and his witnesses in the world.

Driven by this spirit, you have rekindled the fire of the Gospel where it seemed to be dying out, and you have accompanied many individuals and Christian communities, reawakening them to the joy of faith, helping them rediscover the beauty of knowing Jesus, and fostering their spiritual growth and their call to witness.

In particular, in addition to formators and catechists, I would like to express my gratitude to families who, receiving the inner impulse of the Spirit, leave the security of ordinary life and set out on mission, even to distant and difficult territories, with the sole desire to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to God’s love. In this way, the itinerant teams, made up of families, catechists, and priests, participate in the evangelizing mission of the whole Church and, as Pope Francis said, contribute to “awakening” the faith of “non-Christians who have never heard of Jesus Christ,” but also of many baptized Christians who, even though they are Christians, “have forgotten […] who Jesus Christ is.” (Address to members of the Neocatechumenal Way, March 6, 2015).

Living the experience of the Neocatechumenal Way and carrying out its mission also requires, on your part, interior vigilance and a wise critical capacity, in order to discern certain risks that always lurk in spiritual and ecclesial life.

You propose to everyone a path of rediscovery of Baptism, and this Sacrament, as we know, uniting us to Christ, makes us living members of his Body, his one people, his one family. We must always remember that we are the Church and that, if the Spirit grants each person a particular manifestation, it is given—as the Apostle Paul reminds us—“for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7) and, therefore, for the very mission of the Church. The charisms must always be put at the service of the kingdom of God and of the one Church of Christ, in which no gift of God is more important than others—except charity, which perfects them all and harmonizes them—and no ministry should become a reason to feel oneself better than his one’s brothers and to exclude those who think differently.

Therefore, I invite you too, who have encountered the Lord and live his sequel in the Neocatechumenal Way, to be witnesses of this unity. Your mission is special, but not exclusive; your charism is specific, but it bears fruit in communion with the other gifts present in the life of the Church; the good you do is a lot, but its fulfillment is to make people know Christ, always respecting each person’s life journey and conscience.

As guardians of this unity in the Spirit, I exhort you to live your spirituality without ever separating yourselves from the rest of the ecclesial body, as a living part of the ordinary pastoral care of parishes and of its various realities, in full communion with the brothers, and in particular with priests and bishops. Go forward in joy and with humility, without barriers, as builders and witnesses of communion.

The Church accompanies you, supports you, and is grateful for what you do. At the same time, she reminds everyone that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). For this, the proclamation of the Gospel, the catechesis, and the various forms of pastoral action must always be free from forms of constraint, rigidity, and moralism, so that they do not give rise to feelings of guilt and fears instead of interior freedom.

Dear friends, I thank you for your mission, your joyful witness, and for the service you render to the Church and to the world. I encourage you to continue with enthusiasm, and I bless you, invoking upon you the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that she may accompany and protect you. Thank you!