“May holiness continue to be the banner of our Church,” says Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid
The diocesan phase of the beatification and canonization of Carmen Hernández has been concluded
The Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Madrid hosted the closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the beatification process for the Servant of God Carmen Hernández, co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way alongside Kiko Arguello. Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, presided over the celebration, which was also attended by ten bishops, as well as Alberto Fernández, the delegate for the Causes of Saints of the Archdiocese of Madrid.
More than 500 members of the Neocatechumenal Way community in Madrid, including representatives from the first communities of the Way that were founded in the capital 60 years ago. Also present were members from Zamora, Barcelona, Paris, Ivrea, Rome, Florence, and Lisbon.
In addition, numerous itinerant catechists from around the world attended, including from Italy, Australia, the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso, Peru, and the Netherlands.
Also in attendance were Lourdes Grosso, director of the Causes of the Saints at the Episcopal Conference, and relatives of Carmen Hernández.
The ceremony began with a prayer service at the grave of Carmen, attended by the Archbishop of Madrid and the international team of the Way.
Next, in the seminary garden, Postulator Carlos Metola thanked everyone for attending and emphasized that “Carmen’s fame is growing.” Some 120,000 people from 107 countries have already visited and prayed at the tomb of the Servant of God. Some 3,000 priests and 70 bishops have also visited.
“Today we also heard the story of someone who is not in the Way. She was pregnant and was going to lose the baby, but a friend had told her about Carmen and said she was an ‘expert on pregnancies.’ She prayed to Carmen on her way to the hospital, and in the end, the baby was saved.”
Metola explained that “through these documents and testimonies, we have traced 52 years of Kiko and Carmen’s dynamic evangelical life.” “What journeys they have undertaken! How many convivences they have held! They have given their all for the Gospel.”
The postulator explained that all the documents reflect “Carmen’s love for the Eucharist, for the Virgin Mary, and a special zeal.”
The collected documentation, which is now being sent to Rome to continue the process, consists of 70 boxes, each weighing 6.8 kg and containing 1,200 pages.
Words by Kiko Argüello
I am deeply moved to be able to experience this day, which marks the conclusion of the diocesan phase of the canonization process for Carmen Hernández. This is a momentous day for the entire Neocatechumenal Way; a great celebration for all our brothers and sisters.
I would like to thank those who have helped research and compile the extensive documentation on Carmen. I have followed the process of gathering this material over the past ten years and know that it has been done with great care. We constantly receive reports of graces received through her intercession, and it is a source of joy to know that more and more brothers and sisters—as well as people outside the Way—are seeking her intercession, not only the older generation who knew her but also so many young people. For this reason, I am grateful to all those whose work is helping to make Carmen even better known.
Through this Cause for Beatification, the Church is evaluating Carmen’s virtues. I can say that Carmen always had the good of the Church at heart. What love she had for the popes, the bishops, and the priests! Moreover, without her, the Neocatechumenal Way would not exist. What an enormous help Carmen has been to the Way! She brought us the riches of the Second Vatican Council, of the Easter Vigil, and of the Jewish roots of Christianity. She was a theologian constantly engaged in research and inquiry. She generously placed her extraordinary spiritual intelligence at the service of the Way, knowing how to convey to us with enthusiasm the newness of the Council. Her entire life was marked by her love for Christ and for the mission of the Church.
The Lord has united Carmen and me for more than 50 years in a wonderful mission of evangelization, a fruit of the Second Vatican Council. It is a work of the Holy Spirit that began in the Diocese of Madrid among the poor living in the shantytowns of Palomeras Altas, and of which Carmen and I have been witnesses. A Christian Initiation program that the Holy See definitively approved in 2008, and which has saved thousands of families and given so many vocations to the Church.
Carmen wanted to proclaim the Gospel to the poor; that is why she worked in the poorest neighborhoods of Barcelona, and why she wanted to go with the miners in Bolivia… but God was waiting for her in Palomeras. In the shantytowns, she saw that Jesus Christ was there for the poor, which is why she decided to stay there. But it wasn’t until the Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, appeared that she decided to collaborate with me definitively, because she loved the Church unconditionally.
She loved Jesus Christ with a passion. Behind the success of the Way lies her hidden love for Christ. A truly exceptional woman, with boundless generosity, she denied herself in order to show me the way. She accepted to remain in the background for the sake of the brothers and sisters of the Way. For that alone, she could be beatified.
Together with the brothers and sisters of the Neocatechumenal Way, I give thanks to the Lord and to the Church for this day. Today we entrust to our Mother, the Church, this new phase in Rome of the process of beatification and canonization of Carmen Hernández.
Kiko Argüello
RMS Madrid, June 2, 2026
After invoking the Holy Spirit by singing “Come, Creator Spirit,” the ceremony continued with the presentation of the proceedings and the signing of the decree of closure, as well as the appointment and swearing-in of the custodian of the proceedings.
The members of the tribunal and the postulator, Charlie Metola, took an oath that they had fulfilled the task entrusted to them and would maintain professional confidentiality.
The sealing and sealing with wax of the final box of the archetype—the documents—concluded with a round of applause from those present, who then sang the song “Están rotas mis ataduras” (“My Bonds Are Broken”), which is linked to the story of Carmen and features music by Arguello.
Before concluding, the closing document was read, the minutes were handed over to the bearer, and the letter that Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Life, Family, and Life, had sent on the occasion of the event was presented.
Vatican City, May 27, 2026
Neocatechumenal Way
Closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification and canonization of the Servant of God, Carmen Hernández Barrera
Madrid, June 2, 2026
Message from Cardinal Kevin Farrell
Your Eminence, Cardinal Cobo Cano,
Your Excellencies,
Dear Kiko, Fr. Mario, and María Ascensión,
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I would like to join you in celebrating the conclusion of the diocesan phase of the cause for the beatification and canonization of the Servant of God, Carmen Hernández Barrera.
It is a source of great comfort and encouragement for all who belong to the Neocatechumenal Way to see that the founder of this Way, together with Kiko Argüello, has been recognized by the local Church of Madrid as a model of Christian life, faith, love for the Church, the steadfast practice of the virtues, and zeal for evangelization.
So many testimonies have been gathered over the years that attest to the reputation for holiness Carmen enjoys among those who have known her in the various parts of the world to which her numerous missionary journeys have taken her.
Many remember her for her frank and unpretentious nature, her love of prayer and the liturgy, her penchant for theological reflection, her familiarity with Sacred Scripture, her filial affection for the Supreme Pontiffs, her keen awareness of the centrality of the Paschal Mystery in the Christian life, her veneration for the holy places linked to the mysteries of Jesus’ earthly life, and her tender and passionate love for Christ, whom she regarded as the spouse of her own soul. These aspects of her thought, her religious sensibility, and her clear faith constitute a spiritual heritage that all members of the Neocatechumenal Way—and not only them—must safeguard, deepen, and imitate.
I accompany the next phase of the cause for beatification with my prayers, which is now beginning, with the hope that all members of the Way, following Carmen’s example, may grow in holiness, in filial love for the Church, and in missionary zeal, so that the many seeds she sowed in her generous apostolate of formation in the Christian life may bear abundant fruit.
I join you in giving thanks to God for the gift of Carmen, and I bless you from the bottom of my heart.
Kevin Card. Farrell
Prefect
The Archbishop of Madrid concluded the celebration by acknowledging that “today we bring to a close this diocesan journey, which begins anew constantly and starts within each one of us, leaving its mark from the moment of Baptism onward.” “We needed,” he continued, “a moment of reflection and listening, and we are also grateful to all those who participated.”
“Now we place ourselves in the Lord’s hands for the next phase; we entrust ourselves to the Lord’s guidance,” added the cardinal, who thanked those who participated in the process for their dedication. “It is clear that there is love, devotion, and commitment in the life of the Church. This is how we build community and help the life of the Church to grow. May we continue to move forward to live out holiness, for we celebrate that holiness surrounds us, walks with us, and is a process to which we are called.”
“Thank you, Kiko, Mario, Ascensión, and everyone who has welcomed us. Thank you to all of us who dream that holiness will continue to be the banner of our Church,” he concluded before giving the blessing and ending the celebration with the hymn ‘Blessed are you, Mary.’
