Louis & Mary Beasley-Suffolk
40 Dormer Road
Eastville
Bristol BS5 6XQ
28th January
Dear Mr. Millington and the Enquiry Team,
To illustrate what the Neo-catechumenate has done to rather than for me and the parish community of which I am a member, I will share an account of one occasion as an example of one of many such occasions.
We (the parishioners not involved in the Neo-catechumenate) had asked continually that our parish priest, Canon J. O'Brien, should explain to us exactly what the Neo-catechumenate was, what it did for him and how the movement was compatible with parish life in this country. During the Spring of 1993 a meeting was arranged and a large number of parishioners attended. The meeting was trebled in size by members of the Neo-catechumenate, thereby outnumbering the non-members by a ratio of 2 to 1. The meeting commenced with the entrance of our parish priest followed by another priest and a small entourage of unknown laity. this unexpected group was - it transpired - the National Catechetical Team of the Neo-catechumenate movement based in London.
After an introduction by our parish priest, the meeting was controlled by the visiting prelate, Fr. José Guzman who during the next 40 minutes accused the parishioners of being:
We were told that the 'Holy Spirit' is the 'sperm of faith' and that the Neo-catechumenate was a way of 'gestation in the faith'. We had to recognise that we were weak and needed to be humbled, and once this situation had been realised, we would then be ready for the Neo-catechumenate. We also had to realise that in our parish the parish priest was our alter-ego. After a sharp discussion, Fr. Guzman was convinced of our lack of faith and terminated the meeting.
These accusations by Fr. Guzman are a denial of our Baptism (New Catechism 1253) and an offence against the Truth (New Catechism 2467, 2468, 2469, 2475, 2476). We parishioners attempted to comply with New Catechism 2478, but were denied the same courtesy by Canon J. O'Brien and Fr. J. Guzman (New Catechism 2479). New Catechism 2487 is one reason for the enquiry.
The Neo-catechumenate, under the guise of Fr. J. Guzman, and by association our parish priest, has denied our incorporation in Christ through Baptism (Canon 204 and 96). This 'happening' is but one of innumerable distortions of Truth that has rattled the parish with machine-gun regularity and intensity, forcing the faithful to seek shelter elsewhere or simply to become lost. These people no longer in communication with either the parish or the Church are the "people of God" the enquiry team should be seeking. The one place they will not find them is at St. Nicholas of Tolentino.
Your sincerely,
Louis & Mary Beasley-Suffolk