“A woman in love with Christ” who proclaimed the gospel to the ends of the earth and gave importance and dignity to women in society and church. So said the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Osoro Sierra, in his speech at the opening act of the diocesan phase of the cause of the beatification and canonization of Carmen Hernández Barrera, which took place in the Spanish capital in the afternoon
Debora Donnini – Vatican City
The enthusiasm of those present at the Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid to follow the law that opens the diocesan phase of the process of beatification and canonization of María del Carmen Hernández Barrera is palpable. Through this woman’s mission, the eyes of many of them have been able to turn their gaze to heaven instead of back to earth, and their hearts have been able to experience the transition from death to life with Christ, that the cross is glorious, that the resurrection , and not nothing, has the last word.
In the wake of these acts, Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid, accepted the postulator’s request on behalf of those involved in the cause and canonically directed the diocesan phase of the process of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Carmen Hernández a Barrera, together with Kiko Argüello initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way. First, Nihil Obstat was read from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. During the meeting, the cardinal, the tribunal, and the postulator took an oath of duty, and the supplex libellus and some decrees relating to the matter were read.
Inaugural act of the diocesan phase of the cause of the beatification and canonization of Carmen Hernández Barrera, which took place in Madrid on December 4, 2022
To begin, Kiko read a message from Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, who was unable to attend. The Cardinal joins in the joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for this opening of the diocesan phase of the process. And he hopes that Carmen’s life, her profession of faith, her commitment to the end to spread the word of the gospel, will continue to be an example for all.
Cardinal Osoro Sierra’s speech
“A charismatic woman, deeply in love with Christ and passionate, so much so that at times she can seem ‘politically incorrect,'” said Cardinal Osoro Sierra in his speech, recalling Carmen’s bond with John Paul II, Benedict XVI. and Pope Francis, who called her when she was ill in Madrid. Cardinal Osoro Sierra describes Carmen as a woman who had the courage to speak truth and justice and how her sometimes harsh-sounding words arose from her conviction that only truth sets people free and that only Jesus Christ is truth. He recalls his zeal in preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth and the importance and dignity he gave to women, their place in life, in society and in the Church. She who emphasized the beauty of the maternal womb in which every man is formed, the wonder of life born in woman. The cardinal points out that this act is the beginning of a beatification process in which the documents will be found and all the evidence supporting them and those who may oppose them will be rigorously examined, and he expresses the hope that the cause will be successful .
The supplex libellus
“Carmen Hernández devoted all her energies for 52 years to the uninterrupted ministry of itinerant preaching of the Gospel and, as a ‘useless servant’, to being an instrument of Christ in the renewal of his Church.” This is how the figure of this Spaniard is described in the Supplex libellus. Carlos Metola, Postulator of the Cause of the Diocese, reads it on behalf of the actors in the Cause, who are the international team of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko, Father Mario Pezzi and Ascensión Romero, and the “Family of Nazareth” Foundations in Madrid and Rome. The supplex libellus therefore asks the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro Sierra, to begin diocesan instruction in his archdiocese on the matter in question.
Carlos Metola points out that the Neocatechumenal Way is the fruit of the Second Vatican Council, which Saint Paul VI also said. has pointed out and recalls that Carmen Hernández Barrera was born on November 24, 1930 in Ólvega, in the province of Soria, into a Catholic family with nine children. Hence, her existence is traced, from her desire to be a missionary, through her chemistry studies, to her entry into the newly formed institute of the Missionary Sisters of Christ Jesus. During those years, reading his notes, one can see his deep love for Jesus. Then came his studies in religious studies at the Institut Sedes Sapientiae in Valencia, ending with a thesis summa cum laude on “The Necessity of Prayer in Thinking” by Pius XII”. Carmen goes to London to learn English because all the indications are that she will go to India as a missionary, but at some point the high schools doubt her suitability for the perpetual vows. She waits eight months in one of the nunnery in Barcelona.Here she lives a very deep kenosis: she feels called to evangelize, but no longer knows what her place in the Church is.It was in Barcelona that she met the liturgist Father Pedro Farnés, who, with the rediscovery of the Easter Vigil, gave her the liturgical renewal that was just beginning: “Thus he learned that in the Eucharist the ‘memorial of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ’ is made present and you take an existential part in it, die and rise with it,” Carlos Metola recalls. When it was then confirmed that she had not been admitted to the perpetual vows on August 28, 1962, the existential doubts intensified. So she went to Israel to have a fundamental experience and then, after a year, back in Madrid, she met Kiko in the Palomeras barracks. Inspired by Our Lady, Kiko had heard the call to “make Christian communities like the Holy Family of Nazareth, living in humility, simplicity and worship, the other is Christ.” Today – Metola recalls – is after this one Since the barracks spread by Kiko and Carmen and thousands of catechists trained by them, the Neocatechumenal Way is spread in 135 countries, for a total of about 21,700 communities with a million and a half people in over 6,200 parishes.
A life, that of Carmen, lived for more than 50 years around the world in preaching the Gospel and visiting churches, without salary, with sleepless nights, sufferings, failures, but also joys and comfort at the sight of the work of gentlemen. Carmen also experiences moments of “emptiness”. He constantly follows the Pope’s activities, listens to Vatican Radio, reads the Osservatore Romano and numerous theological books in his library. Among the points mentioned in the supplex libellus is his love of prayer – he prayed the Psalter every hour – his love of the sacraments, the Eucharist, which he attended every day, and penance. Such was his love of Scripture that he read for hours that his Bibles were repeatedly emphasized. She was such a great scholar that her libraries contain more than 4,500 books. At Kiko she had an attitude of fraternal rebuke lest she become proud, she was a free woman with a special love for “the lost sheep”: she called out and encouraged the hundreds of brothers in the community when they were in crisis . He also experienced severe physical pain from heart disease, pain in his legs from a non-healing ulcer, and pain in his side from broken ribs. It died without rebellion but in peace. “So we see that he lived the virtues heroically,” Metola recalls. More than 1,500 thanks and favors have come from people in over 70 countries around the world who have reached out to Carmen. 50,000 people have already gone to his grave and left around 25,000 thanks and requests in the condolence books.
Kiko Argüello, Father Mario Pezzi and Ascension Romero
Kiko talks about her mission with Carmen
So it is with words of joy and also deep affection that Kiko remembers her during this act. In 1964, Carmen met Kiko in the barracks of Madrid and was amazed to see how forgiveness, love and Christian communion were born among the poor also in response to the encounter with the Word of God, the very providential presence of Monsignor Casimiro Morcillo , l Archbishop of Madrid then finally convinced Carmen to work with Kiko by seeing that “the promise that God had made to her in Israel came true”. world in “work not done at table” that sprang not from “preconceived plans or ideas” but from the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus they became “witnesses to the presence of God in evangelization” and “to the action of God in the Church of the Second Vatican Council”. “It took a lot for me to accept Carmen,” says Kiko, until she understood how merciful it was to have someone by her side who constantly told him the truth, without flattering him but, on the contrary, helping him. “Carmen was wonderful! An extraordinary woman who has done much good, not only for the brothers and sisters of the Neocatechumenal Way, but for the whole Church,” she remarks, emphasizing her missionary zeal, her heroic life of faith, her unconditional love for the Pope and for the Church. Hence the desire that “the Church examine his life, which was often a life of crucifixion, silence and suffering, as in ‘a dark night’; I also wish – he affirmed – that his virtues come to light, many of which are hidden and many of them heroic”.
During the act, the Gospel of the Transfiguration, to which Carmen was very attached (Mk 9:2-8), is proclaimed and then the song “Carmen ’63” is sung. Finally, a symphony composed by Kiko emerges. The orchestra that performs it is made up of 94 musicians and 80 choristers of the Neocatechumenal Way and is directed by Maestro Tomas Hanus. There is a piece entitled ‘Aquedah’, which refers to the words of Isaac as he is about to be sacrificed according to a Jewish targum, and another entitled ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’ which sets part of the Passion to music according to Luke. Both were linked to Carmen, who lived the experience of the Cross in her life and in her flesh, consciously and constantly announcing that on Easter morning the last word would be the light of the Resurrection and the encounter with the Bridegroom.
Inaugural act of the diocesan phase of the cause of the beatification and canonization of Carmen Hernández Barrera, which took place in Madrid on December 4, 2022