Spanish priest claims to be expelled from the Neocatechumenal Way

Priest Eugenio Fernández Herrera affirms that he has been “expelled” from the Neocatechumenal Way, accused of causing division, after denouncing pressure to have his YouTube channel closed.

The Neocatechumenal Way, for its part, express that “no one can be enrolled or expelled” from this ecclesial reality, which is not a movement, although the catechists delegated by the so-called International Team can ask a catechumen to “take time for reflection” in the face of the risk “of loss of ecclesial communion.”

Born in Spain, but trained at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Bogotá (Colombia), Father Eugenio Fernández Herrera assured at the beginning of this October that he had been living “in silence” for a year, which he considered a “persecution” that he defined as “a ruse to block the YouTube channel” on which he had 160,000 followers and spread homilies, songs covered by Kiko Argüello and other artists as well as preaching.

This Wednesday, October 23, through a new YouTube channel, the priest read a statement to announce his expulsion: “The catechists responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Colombia have kicked me out of the Way. The justification they have given me is to divide the Way,” due to complaints about the use of social networks.

“The Camino is more than people”

“I love the Church and the Neocatechumenal Way, to which God called me since I was little and where I lived the faith and the call to be a priest, for 25 years. I will never speak ill of the Way. It hurts me that envy and egos lead to slander and speak ill of me,” he stated.

“I have not disobeyed my catechists,” he defended, before explaining that he stopped singing Hakuna songs and giving talks in other countries, as requested.

“I was never told to stop digital evangelization or to remove the songs of the Camino. I have been prohibited from giving catechism or talks, preaching, with ideas or preaching from Kiko Arguello,” he added.

The priest also stressed that he is not moving away from this ecclesial reality on his own initiative: “I have not left the Camino. I have been thrown out. I am prohibited from presenting myself as a priest of the Camino, even having trained in the Redemptoris Mater seminary. But I know that the Camino is more than people.”

“I wanted to make this statement so that you know the truth and my situation. Not to divide and create controversy, but so that you know what happened. I want to tell you that I will continue evangelizing in these media, especially now that we have a patron as excellent as Carlos Acutis. I never wanted to divide and if I did, forgive me. Pray for me and may God bless you,” he concluded.

Can someone be expelled from the Neocatechumenal Way?

The Neocatechumenal Way is neither a movement nor a prelature and officially has no members. Only faithful who attend or do not attend the catechesis given in their communities.

In its statutes it is defined as an “itinerary of Catholic formation that is carried out in the dioceses” and that is developed “under the direction of the diocesan bishop” according to the lines proposed by its initiators.

ACI Prensa contacted Ascensión Romero, a member of the international team of the Neocatechumenal Way since January 2018 along with the initiators Kiko Argüello and Fr. Mario Pezzi, to ask if a formal expulsion is possible, what it would entail and who could make such a decision.

A few hours later, the official website of the Neocatechumenal Way republished the statement issued last October 2, referring to the intellectual property of the songs composed by Kiko Argüello after the priest’s first video complaint, adding an annex alluding to the expulsion.

In the annex, in which Father Eugenio Fernández is not cited, it is stated that “according to the Statutes, officially approved by the Church, the Camino is one of the diocesan modalities of Christian initiation, under the jurisdiction of the local Bishop and is guided by delegated catechists, in collaboration with him.”

Likewise, it emphasizes that “it is neither an association nor a movement”, in such a way that “the people who belong to it do not have a membership card, so no one can be registered or expelled.”

Furthermore, he states, in relation to the priests trained in the Redemptoris Mater seminaries that “there are no priests ‘of the Way’, but rather diocesan priests trained in a diocesan missionary seminary, erected by the Bishop and, therefore, in obedience to him.”

“Catechists who look after the good of the brothers and the communion among all, faced with the risk of division or loss of ecclesial communion, can sometimes intervene and ask a brother or sister to take time for reflection,” the document reads.