Archdiocese Pauses Ncw Growth

By Neil Pang
Guam Daily Post
March 15, 2017

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/archdiocese-pauses-ncw-growth/article_8200741a-0a01-11e7-8525-0ffeef0c0d37.html

The Archdiocese of Agana has asked for a halt on the formation of new Neocatechumenal Way communities across the island in an effort to promote healing between the division among Guam's Catholic faithful.

The request was issued to NCW leaders by Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes, who said in a statement that he was in the process of developing church policies that would balance the concerns of traditional Catholics with the "blessing" the NCW has been for many.

"I have asked the lead catechists here in Guam to put a 'pause' on the formation of new communities for a period of about a year," Byrnes said in the release. "During this time, I intend to appoint a priest delegate to help me discern the effects of our efforts, to review the Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way and to ensure that catechists are sufficiently formed and certified for their important role. By this I wish to create a kind of moral and spiritual space in which healing can begin."

While Byrnes affirmed the NCW as a Catholic community recognized and approved by the Holy See that has brought many into the fold of the Catholic faith, he also acknowledged the many appeals from "a significant number of the faithful about the way the Eucharist is celebrated" by the NCW.