Angelus News | February 9, 2024 | Vol. 9 No

DESIRE LINES
HEATHER KING
What Carmen left behind
Servant of God Carmen Hernández, who
died in 2016, with Kiko Argüello in 1984.
They are known as the “co-initiators” of
the Neocatechumenal Way, an itinerary
of post-baptismal Christian formation
present in more than 130 countries worldwide.
| NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY
Servant of God Carmen Hernández,
along with Kiko Argüello,
co-initiated what is known as the
Neocatechumenal Way.
The charism grew out of the Second
Vatican Council, took root in Madrid
and Rome, and has spread throughout
the world in innumerable communities,
attracting a multitude of catechumens.
The Way describes itself as “an
itinerary of rediscovery of baptism
and ongoing formation in the faith”; a
proposition “to the faithful who wish
to rekindle in their lives the richness
of the Christian initiation” and live
lives marked by humility, simplicity,
and praise.
Meant to be lived in parishes and
small communities comprising people
from varying demographics, ages, and
social groups, the aim is to gradually
lead the faithful “to intimacy with
Jesus Christ and transform them into
active members in the Church and
credible witnesses of the Good News.
It is an instrument for the Christian
initiation of adults preparing to receive
baptism.”
Hernández (1930-2016) left 30 years
of diaries, which are being transcribed
bit by bit. The first three years are now
available: “Diaries: 1979-1981” (Gondolin
Press, $24), with a foreword by
Cardinal Séan O’Malley of Boston
and a preface by Cardinal Ricardo
Blásquez Pérez, archbishop emeritus
of Valladolid, Spain.
As Blasquez notes, “Kiko was the
catechist who always spoke and Carmen
almost always listened, at times
praying, at other times with restlessness
and sometimes intervening with
a pertinent reflection.”
Nonetheless, he says, we must
assume that the development of the
content of the catecheses, the “steps”
and “rites,” and the organization of
the evangelization was due to their
combined work.
“Each one contributed the gifts
received by God.”
Argüello (born 1939, still going
strong at 85) is an extrovert who
thrives in the limelight, an artist
whose personality was especially difficult
for Hernández. Her itinerant missionary
lifestyle over 50 years required
constant travel, crowds, and uprootedness.
She never had a permanent
place to lay her head, nor the silence
and solitude that her contemplative
spirit craved.
Her diaries are marked by an anguish
that might be almost comical in its
repetition, except for the genuine
suffering that permeates almost every
entry.
“I will fight against the ghosts of
darkness. I will not dialogue with
them, I will not let them rope me
in. Away with you, Satan! The risen
30 • ANGELUS • February 9, 2024