BY JOE JENKiNS
CARDINAL HUMS has decided not to ordain 15 Neocatechumenate seminarians as priests of the Westminster Diocese.
Last month the Herald revealed that former members of the Neocatechumenate movement had complained that they had been "brainwashed" by the "obsessive" group. The movement has also been the subject of a major investigation in the Clifton Diocese.
The students, all based at Allen Hall in Chelsea, central London, belong to the movement whose members the Pope has adopted as his "favourite children".The Cardinal's decision could potentially lead to a rift with Rome.
However, a spokesman for the Cardinal dismissed the affair as "a local matter", "The Cardinal has decided after widespread consultation with his priests that it is not appropriate to integrate further the Neocatechumenate into the Diocese of Westminster beyond the three parishes where the Neocatechumenate flourishes successfully.
"Therefore although the Cardinal is happy for the Neocatechumenate seminarians to study at the Dicesan seminary, he is not intending to ordain them as priests in Westminster. The Cardinal is very aware of the difficulty of incorporating into the Diocesan priesthood in this country those who will remain priests of the Neocatechumenate movement."