Tensions continue to grow in southern New Mexico over the influence of a “new ecclesial movement” to which the local bishop has strong ties. On Monday, one concerned group, Voice of the Laity, is holding its third meeting about the Neocatechumenal Way in Las Cruces.
The Neocatechumenal Way is a global movement founded in 1964 that forms small parish-based communities and claims one million members worldwide. Maltese-born Bishop Peter Baldacchino is affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way and is the first member of the movement to become a bishop in the United States.
Although Pope Francis appointed Baldacchino bishop of Las Cruces in 2019, concerns about the movement’s influence in the diocese only began to surface publicly last year. Since his arrival, members of the Neocatechumenal Way have taken on prominent roles within the diocesan administration. More recently, parishioners say the movement’s influence over liturgy and parish life has left some longtime members feeling marginalized.
Voice of the Laity has tried to open a dialogue with the bishop, but its members say they have been rebuffed and intimidated. Several months ago, the group held an informational meeting at which the bishop arrived uninvited with his vicar general and attempted to control the meeting.
Attempts by Crux Now to speak with the diocese about the meeting and the broader situation in Las Cruces have gone unanswered.
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“People are confused, and people are scared,” said Karen Caroe, who is no longer associated with the Voice of the Laity but featured in a video of a group meeting held last September.
Caroe, who holds a Doctor of Education degree and is among the most highly educated people in the diocese — one of the poorest in the country — told Crux Now that the diocese is 87 percent Hispanic and that many people are reluctant to speak out because they fear “crossing the bishop will send you to hell.”
On June 6, 2025, the bishop sent a letter to priests of the Diocese of Las Cruces announcing plans to open two seminaries—St. Joseph Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Seminary. He said one would focus on formation for the local diocese and the other, ad extra, would prepare missionary priests for “wherever there is need.”
Redemptoris Mater seminaries are closely associated with the Neocatechumenal Way, and there are approximately a dozen in the United States. However, the bishop’s letter made no mention of the lay movement.
“I have come to the conclusion that our diocese needs places within our local community to form these men for the priesthood,” Baldacchino said. “We will therefore open two seminaries… one that will focus ad intra… the other ad extra, to form missionary priests for wherever there is need.”
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Father Kevin Waymel, the Vicar General featured in the video at the meeting where Caroe speaks, is a Neocatechumenal priest. In December, laywoman Alesia Ogo was appointed the diocese’s chancellor. She is an Occupational Therapist from Guam and a member of the Neocatechumenal Way who previously served at Guam Memorial Hospital before moving to Las Cruces.
Although the reason for her appointment was never made public, one of the movement’s pastoral activities is sending out lay missionaries, often into areas it considers highly secularized “post-Christian” communities.
On Aug. 1, 2025, the group Voice of the Laity held the first independent meeting on the way the Neocatechumenal Way was functioning in the diocese at the Frank O’Brien Papen Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
As the first speaker, Caroe became, for many, “the face” of those asking questions about the role of the lay movement in the diocese.
She told Crux Now that her priest, Father Alejandro Reyes, informed her on Aug. 19 that she could no longer play an active role at Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral. She had been a lector, led a formation program for those interested in joining the Church, and was involved in many other parish activities.
Caroe said the priest claimed she was representing the bishop in those roles, and that her statements at the conference had gone against Baldacchino.
“Father Alejandro could not tell me what it was that I had said that was against the bishop. I was not given any opportunity to explain. I was not allowed to make a confession, apologize, or seek forgiveness,” she said.
Another six people spoke to Crux Now about retaliation they had suffered because of their opposition to bringing the Neocatechumenal Way into the diocese, but they refused to speak on the record out of fear of being ostracized in Las Cruces.
The Neocatechumenal Way was also introduced at New Mexico State University’s Newman Center in Las Cruces, which serves the pastoral and spiritual needs of the student body.
One student, Nicholas Hernandez, said he was ostracized by other Catholics at the university because of his more traditional worship habits and his opposition to the Neocatechumenal Way.
“The students had their own events that they would hold as part of their ministry, and I was not told about these events,” he told Crux Now.
“I was supposed to be a confirmation sponsor, and they didn’t like my traditional views. The NeoCats didn’t like that,” Hernandez said.
“At the Newman Center, the main focus of everything is the small groups led by the NeoCats,” he said. “I was treated like a leper. I have never been treated so awfully, especially by people so close in age to me.”
Hernandez said he often now travels to near El Paso, Texas, to attend Mass.
The Newman Center did not answer questions sent by Crux Now.
Baldacchino said he wanted to clear the air at the second meeting of the Voice of the Laity, which was held at the Frank O’Brien Papen Center on Sept. 24, 2025.
He hadn’t been invited, and the speakers had a brief confrontation with Waymel, which led the bishop and priest to leave the center.
The May 11 meeting will include a talk from Charles White, who has written about the activities of the Neocatechumenal Way in Guam, the homeland of Ogo, the laywoman serving as the new chancellor of the Diocese of Las Cruces.
Nearly a decade ago, four priests belonging to the Neocatechumenal Way were removed from the presbyteral council of the Archdiocese of Agaña in Guam for “insubordination.” They had been appointed by Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who had resigned over allegations of child abuse.
Apuron was associated with the Neocatechumenal Way and raised its influence in the Pacific island territory.
His successor, Archbishop Michael Byrnes – who died last year after a long illness – said the clergy moves were necessary to “bring healing to our divided diocese.”
Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome
