NEOPHYTES. - From the Greek νεόφυτος, meaning a new plant, hence tender. In Sacred Scripture it occurs once, though there are many comparisons, since the Christian life is likened to the plant and to grafting. St. Paul (I Tim. 3:6) calls the newly converted from paganism neophytes: this meaning of the term was perpetuated in the Church, including after Baptism those converted from any non-Christian sect. The term also had the meaning of individuals only recently admitted to the religious or clerical life (cf. St. Gregory the Great, Epistolae: PL 77, 784; 1030-37, 1051). The two meanings passed into Gratian (1, 2, D. 48); but afterwards they were clearly distinguished. Akin to neophytes, also in regard to disciplinary norms, are the clinici (v.).
For several centuries neophytes were numerous, as appears from funerary inscriptions, from the Fathers, from history: disciplinary severity and an exaggerated prudence in the face of the grave Christian duties caused the delay of Baptism, despite the work of the Church, not only for many pagans but also for catechumens. In any case, particular care was always taken for them, e.g., the solemn baptismal rite on the vigils of Easter and Pentecost, with the invitatio or sermo of the bishop, the traditio legis Christianae, the white tunic throughout the octave, the osculum pacis, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Of the celebrated Victorinus Augustine says (Confess., I, 8, n. 2): «Senex non rubuit esse puer Christi et infans fontis Dei».
St. Paul (loc. cit.) prescribed that the neophyte not be ordained bishop because of the danger of pride in a person not sufficiently instructed and formed. The Constantinian peace (313) led to the inclusion of some neophytes among the clergy; the latent ambition of some neophyte also played a part, or the desire of the people to have some celebrated convert as bishop. The abuse was condemned by the First Council of Nicaea (325) and by others, extending the prohibition also to the presbyterate and later to the tonsure, creating for that purpose an impediment, or, according to others, an irregularity. The reasons, besides that adduced by St. Paul, are set out by St. Jerome (Ad Oceanum: PL 22, 663), Gregory of Nazianzus (In laudem s. Athanasii: PG 35, 1090 ff.), Gregory the Great (loc. cit.) and summarized by Gratian (loc. cit.).
There were exceptions, as in the cases of Ambrose, Nectarius of Constantinople, Augustine; but they were always examined with severity. After Gratian there was no innovation whatsoever; the CIC (can. 987 n. 6) confirms the previous discipline, considering the neophyte simply impeded, not irregular, and leaving to the bishop the determination of the time necessary for the impediment to cease. With regard to neophytes there are also extensive applications in the Pauline Privilege (v.).
Bibliography5 works
Sisinio da Romallo
IN THE MISSIONS
Even in the revival of missionary apostolate the prescriptions concerning catechumens were numerous.
In 1213 Richard, prior of Bermondsey, founded a Hospital of Converts in honor of St. Thomas of Canterbury for Jewish catechumens; and the Dominicans did the same at Oxford. Under Henry III (1216-72) a domus conversorum was opened in London for catechumens and Jewish converts. The Council of Basel (1431; sess. XIX, decr. 6 [Mansi, XXIX, p. 99 ff.]) established a particular method of ministry among the catechumens, and Paul III with the bull Cupientes Judaeos (§§ 5-8; 21 March 1542) sanctioned the conciliar decrees. Subsequently, with the bull Ilius qui (19 Feb. 1543), through the initiative of St. Ignatius, who, probably visiting London in 1530, had come to know the domus conversorum, the "House of Catechumens" of St. John of the Market was erected in Rome; with another bull In hoc praecelso fastigio (20 May 1580), Gregory XIII erected that near the church of the Madonna dei Monti, which still exists. Always through the work of St. Ignatius various houses of catechumens were erected in the territories of the Portuguese missions.
At the time of the conquest of the new world, mass conversions did not allow an adequate preparation for Baptism, and therefore the Councils prescribed instruction after it, at the point where today the first step toward the catechumenate begins. The First Council of Mexico, in 1555, established that catechumens after Baptism should learn the "4 prayers," namely: Pater, Ave, Credo, Salve Regina (Conc. Mess., can. 1). The same prescription is repeated in the Council of Quito (1570; sess. III, p. 1; IV, cap. 3). The Council of Lima, 1567, decreed that instruction after Baptism should serve as preparation for receiving the other Sacraments. In 1585 the Third Council of Mexico established that simple sermons drawn from Holy Scripture should often be given to the catechumens (lib. I, tit. I, De praedicatione Verbi Dei, 3-4). In Spanish America, at first, the catechumens were excluded from Communion. It seems that the first "Junta" of Mexico, in 1524, decreed that Communion should be refused to the catechumens even as viaticum (F. A. Lorenzana, Los Concilios Mexicanos, Mexico 1769, p. 4); but the original text has not yet been found. Paul III, on the other hand, with the bull Veritas ipso (2 June 1537), established as a fundamental principle that the Indians were true men endowed with human reason; the second "Junta" of Mexico (1539; can. 22) permitted the administration of the Eucharist to the Indians, provided they were sufficiently prepared; the First Council of Mexico declared that it could be done, but without obligation; and the First Council of Lima, in 1567, mitigating this decree, permitted that the paschal Communion and the Viaticum could be given to all the Indians (cap. 58, 59). It is to José de Acosta's credit that he advocated in his time the administration of the Sacraments as an initiation into the Christian life from the practical missionary point of view. Also in Eastern India many catechumens were excluded from Communion, but Alexander VII with the brief Sacrosancti Apostolatus officii (18 Jan. 1658) severely condemned the abuse (Collectanea S. Congr. de Prop. Fide, I, n. 129).
Indeed, already in 1645 and in 1656, Propaganda had replied to the missionaries of China declaring the obligation of the catechumens to observe positive law concerning the reception of the Sacraments, the precept of feast days and fasting (Collectanea, I, n. 114, 126). Precious provisions for the care of the catechumens were also given later (cf., e.g.: Collect., II, n. 1346, 31-33). The method of the White Fathers deserves special mention, as they keep the catechumens for 3 more months after Baptism in order to introduce them systematically into the Christian life.