SCHOENSTATT INTERNATIONAL 2014

COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Pater-Josef-Kentenich-Straße 1 56179 Vallendar / [email protected] Tel: +49 17624893330

Schoenstatt

The Schoenstatt Movement was founded by Father (1885 – 1968) and took its name from the very place it was founded – Schoenstatt, an area in the town of Vallendar, near Koblenz on the Rhine.

The Original Shrine is a simple little chapel dedicated to Our Lady. This is the heart of the worldwide movement and the place where the actual founding took place on 18th October 1914. This founding is regarded as the sealing of the covenant of love according to the biblical model of covenant. In this covenant of love it is Our Lady, the Mother of , who plays a vital role.

Through Schoenstatt people experience strength and motivation to live their faith on a day to day basis and to make a difference in the world at different levels of commitment and attachment (from a very loose attachment in the movement to the attachment at the level of a secular institute).

Global Extension

There are more than 210 Schoenstatt centres worldwide with a shrine modelled on the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt. More than 15 million people are involved in Schoenstatt in about 110 countries and there are at least 140,000 members worldwide. The German Church has tallied up the numbers of their Schoenstatt members to about 21,000 people – families and youth, men and women, priests and members of institutes of of which many are volunteers within the Church and are very involved in society in general in specific fields. 2,500 children, youth and young adults participate in Germany alone in Schoenstatt events. About 500,000 Catholics are reached through the Schoenstatt courses on offer at the 55 Schoenstatt shrines and centres in 25 German .

The Founder of the Schoenstatt Movement – Father Joseph Kentenich

Joseph Kentenich was born on 16th November in Gymnich near Cologne, Germany and on 8th July 1910 was ordained to the priesthood. In 1912 he became spiritual director to the Pallottine Study Home in Schoenstatt/Vallendar. During this time he laid the foundation www.schoenstatt2014.org SCHOENSTATT INTERNATIONAL 2014 2 OFFICE 2014

stone for his work, the Schoenstatt Movement. In the years to follow he founded various lay and clerical communities with different levels of attachment and since 1926 secular institutes. Today there are more than 20 different communities all at different levels and with different ties. In September 1941 he was arrested by the gestapo and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where he remained unto April 1945. It was here that his foundation became stronger and larger and he had the idea to extend to countries out with Germany due to his connection with non-German priests. In Dachau he founded Schoenstatt International. From 1949 onwards he was put to the test by the Church and sent to Milwaukee in the USA. He was not allowed to have any contact with his foundation in any way during this time. At Christmas 1965, Paul VI rehabilitated him and he was able to return to Schoenstatt.

Despite his advanced age he put all his strength into continuing to build his work, which had now spread to all over the world. Kentenich died on 15th September 1968 directly after celebrating Holy Mass. Following Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, the words Dilexit Ecclesiam – He loved the Church, are engraved on his grave stone. The process of beatification for Father Kentenich is underway.

Spirituality

Years before the began, it was very clear to Father Kentenich that the Church needed people and communities who were inspired from within and were not disturbed by the milieu around them, but were able to freely choose to remain children of God. Schoenstatt regards its central aim in keeping the spirit of the council alive and to adapt this within the Church. It is all about putting pedagogical aims into practice in an everyday rooted faith.

The heart of the spiritualty is the so-called covenant of love with Mary. Hand in hand with Mary, the woman at the side of Jesus, people should grow into a living relationship with God which survives daily life. Schoenstatt sees the covenant of love as a counter model to the signs of our times and the increasing lack of commitment. In covenant with God and with each other, they are motivated to develop their personal world around them out of faith and with Christian values. At the same time the covenant of love is an act which can be realized at different levels of commitment. Freedom and character of the individual is duly noted and recognized at all times.

Schoenstatt’s spiritualty is marked by faith in the guiding hand of God in everyday life. Schoenstatt wants to create a climate where Christians can grow and develop who freely decide to take their own initiatives, to take responsibility for the world around them and to be happy at the multitude of ways God calls us and at the various charismas there are.

Members of Schoenstatt are very active in many different fields and projects, social, educational, helping others, missionary activities, within cultural and political areas, www.schoenstatt2014.org SCHOENSTATT INTERNATIONAL 2014 3 OFFICE 2014

especially within the working together of different spiritual communities and ecclesial projects.

The main fields of the Schoenstatt work are: • Marriage and Family Life, • Youth, • Pedagogy, • Work within the Church • Helping to form a new society

Schoenstatt Leading Figures

Blessed Karl Leisner – ordained to the Priesthood in the concentration camp at Dachau

Luiz Pozzobon – walked 140,000 carrying a large picture of the Blessed Mother to bring her to many people

Father Franz Reinisch – Refused to take the Hitler oath

The Schoenstatt Movement’s National and International Projects

Pilgrim Mother Project – Pilgrim Mother Campaign In 1950 the Luiz Pozzobon, who was a member of the Brazilian Schoenstatt Family, was handed a picture of the Blessed Mother of Schoenstatt by a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary and asked to take the picture to other families. Pozzobon accepted the task and carried out this task for 35 years, right up until his death. He walked 140,000 km carrying this large picture, visiting hospitals, schools and prisons. In 1979 he visited Schoenstatt in Germany then he continued on his pilgrimage to Rome, where Pope John Paul II blessed the picture and his apostolate. In 1984 this initiative spread worldwide. Thanks to the help of a group of Schoenstatt people the campaign spread throughout North, South and Central America as www.schoenstatt2014.org SCHOENSTATT INTERNATIONAL 2014 4 OFFICE 2014

well as to many European countries, to Asia and Africa. Today the campaign can be found in 110 different countries. In Germany the project is known under the name of the pilgrim shrine. More than 6,000 pilgrim shrines visit families, children, kindergartens, schools and youth groups. In Africa, for example in , the picture of Our Lady of Schoenstatt is a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

Youth Projects

Torch Run 2014 – Pray with your feet 1,800 km over 9 days. From Pompeii near Naples in the south of , via Rome over the Alps to Schoenstatt – this project was the idea of the male youth of the Schoenstatt Movement and has now developed into an international project for the entire youth. It will take place from the 8th – 17th October with about 80 young male participants form different continents. These young men are uniting the challenges of sport with their faith. They are running with many prayer petitions from people. This torch will arrive at the youth vigil on 17th October in Schoenstatt.

Mission – Faith Alive The missions are a strong developing stream of life within the Schoenstatt youth. They are the face of Schoenstatt’s missionary side. Youth and young adults go on a mission together to evangelize for about 10 days. They are guests in unknown , live in simple accommodation and practice a very strong communal prayer life. By going from door to door they invite people to talk and to come to their events in the . They trust that Our Lady will accompany them and open doors and hearts for Christ. In 2014 youth from all over Germany met in Dillingen on the Danube. In the meantime the mission is recognized throughout many German dioceses.

Time Abroad – Discover other countries with Schoenstatt Time Abroad is a programme abroad started by the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary for young women over 18. It gives them the chance to spend a few months in another country and to have direct contact with other people, to get to know the country and culture a little, and to make some new experiences. The project began in 2004 and has awakened great interest, having developed its own pedagogical programme. In the meantime the programme has placed over 180 young women in different countries.

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Schoenstatt Networking - Together for Europe The Schoenstatt movement is very active in the field of ecumenicalism with the project: Together for Europe. This project is all about an international network of nearly 300 Christian movements and communities within Europe. In Germany alone there are about 200 communities and movements involved. This networking initiative began in 1999 and brings Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants, Anglicans members of the Free Church and new communities within the Christian faith together. They believe in reconciliation and peace for Europe and want to build bridges between the nations, cultures, confessions and Churches. The independent communities see it as their aim to search for togetherness among the multitude of differences within their spirituality, their charismas and their structures. In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI gave his appreciation of the initiative as “a happy ecumenical institution” And in May 2014 Together for Europe was awarded the European St. Ulrich prize.

www.schoenstatt2014.org