The Archdiocese of Madrid has closed the diocesan phase of the beatification and canonization cause of Carmen Hernández, co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way together with Kiko Argüello. The investigation, which began in December 2022, will now continue in Rome, where the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints will examine the documentation gathered over these years.
The ceremony took place at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Madrid, beside the tomb of Carmen Hernández, who died on July 19, 2016. According to the Neocatechumenal Way, around 650 people took part in the event, presided over by Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, accompanied by Cardinals Antonio María Rouco Varela and Paolo Romeo, as well as several bishops, Hernández’s relatives, and members of this ecclesial reality present throughout the world.
One step closer to the altars
During the ceremony, Cardinal José Cobo formally closed the diocesan investigation and encouraged those present to see holiness as a universal vocation for all the baptized.
The phase now concluded has gathered a vast amount of documentation on the life, virtues, and reputation for holiness of Carmen Hernández. In total, the records of the investigation fill 70 boxes of documentation, each containing around 1,200 pages, which will be sent to the Holy See for study.
The opening of a canonization cause does not imply an automatic recognition of holiness, but it does mean that the Church considers there to be sufficient grounds to thoroughly examine the life and Christian witness of the person under investigation.
From Ólvega to an international mission
Born in Ólvega (Soria) in 1930, Carmen Hernández devoted much of her life to evangelization and the transmission of the faith. Her encounter with Kiko Argüello in the 1960s gave rise to the Neocatechumenal Way, a path of Christian initiation that would later spread to numerous countries and today has a presence on five continents.
During the event, Carlos Metola, the postulator of the cause in this first phase, highlighted Hernández’s apostolic zeal and her love for Jesus Christ, emphasizing the spiritual legacy she continues to leave almost a decade after her death.
Kiko Argüello: “Without her, the Way would not exist”
The founder of the Way especially recalled Hernández’s contribution to the reception of the insights of the Second Vatican Council, her insistence on the centrality of the Easter Vigil, and her role in rediscovering the Jewish roots of Christianity.
“She was a theologian in constant search and deepening,” Argüello stated. “Her entire life was marked by her love for Christ and the mission of the Church.”
With the closure of the diocesan phase, the cause now enters a new stage. It will be the Holy See that studies the documentation sent from Madrid and determines the next steps in a process that could, in the future, lead to the beatification and canonization of the co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way.