This recognition of their movement by Rome is shamelessly exploited by the Neocatechumenate's apologists. After all, it is just a couple of decades ago that the l'Armée de Marie was enthusiastically and officially approved by the Church, only a mere decade later to be formally suppressed by an embarrassed Episcopacy which had finally woken up to the fact that its foundress was claiming to be the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary and was, as many of the laity had been trying to tell them all along, as barmy as a box of frogs. However, the faithful may be excused in these confusing times for taking such ecclesial approval with a very large pinch of salt. Rome has always been a deal more catholic and liberal than its detractors would give it credit for. But then Rome has also given traditionalists its formal approval by setting up the commission, Ecclesia Dei, and the prelature of the Association of St Jean Marie Vianney. They have patrons in high places, including the Holy Father, and Rome has recently given them its formal approval. Some claim the Way is a blessing of the Spirit, but many consider it to be dangerous in doctrine and methodology and compare it to a sect, calling it "a church within the Church".
The Neocatechumenate Way has been a sign of contention and a source of division within the Catholic Church for many years. It very quickly became obvious to me that the Way (The Way is what its apologists like to call the Neocatechumenate Way) was like an iceberg, and what its apologist permitted you to see was barely even the tip. However, I passionately believe that the dignity of my fellow man is such that when one is asking people or groups to make important decisions about their lives, particularly their spiritual lives, one has an obligation to be honest, everything up front and out in the open, all one's cards on the table so to speak. I am not one of those traditional Catholics who believes that everything I disagree with should be suppressed. My curiosity aroused, I have subsequently quizzed ex-members extensively in the UK.
What I learned over a good bottle of wine so concerned me that I made a point of dining with the same people on three or four further occasions. I first became interested in the organization calling itself the Neocatechumenate Way some years ago in Rome, when I found myself dining, quite by chance, with some ex-members.
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