I have read the report in the Experiences section of Omnes issue 732, October 2023, about the Omnes Forum about Integration of ecclesial groups into parish life. An interesting topic, about which some comments come to mind.
Some years ago - I don't remember how many, I would have to remember - I was commissioned to write an article on the presence of ecclesial movements in parishes, for this same magazine, which at that time still bore the name "Palabra" (Word). The then diocesan bishop of Getafe, D. Joaquín María López de Andújar, suggested a commentary based on his experience. He thought that, when some new movement or charism arrives to a diocese, or perhaps to a parish, as in the frame of reference of this Omnes Forum, the situation is similar to that of the father of a family to whom another child is born; there are parents who assume it very well, they adapt the spaces of the house, if necessary they put a bunk bed where there was a bed, etc., and there is no problem; but others do not know how to manage with the new child.
I limit myself now to underline something that María Dolores Negrillo, from the executive of Cursillos in Christianity, said during the Forum, when referring to priests who do not admit them, and reply when one of the members of a movement comes to offer to collaborate in the parish: "...".With all my love, I have to say that all the groups are done, and we don't know what to do with you."; or, in other cases: "They complicate our lives; we do not want them.". Indeed, these things do happen.
I return to the comment of Bishop López de Andújar, because something similar sometimes happens with diocesan bishops, for example, in relation to permanent deacons or the Ordo virginum. It can be clarified that it is not obligatory to have either one (deacons) or the other (virgins); and, in practice, there is an enormous disproportion between the different dioceses in the case, for example, of permanent deacons, who exceed 60 in Seville or 12 in Getafe, while in some dioceses there are none at all.
In a similar way, we also find that not all priests allow the Neocatechumenal Way to be established in their parish. They begin with a catechesis of proclamation, but they do not always admit them. There is no doubt that the Way does much good to many souls, including many priests, who not only attend to them, but they themselves "walk". It is also remarkable the fact that the whole family, parents and children, usually "walk". But there is a fear of the risk of transforming the parish and configuring it in the style of the Way.
This is not always the case; nor is it generally the case with diocesan priests linked to other spiritualities: Communion and Liberation, Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, Focolare... If they change, the parish moves forward without trauma, or rupture.
My conclusion: there is a lot of progress to be made in this, in the sense that the report underlines: "Everyone agreed to dialogue".
