The assignment: From the periphery to the centre

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From the periphery to the center

Not we, but the Blessed Mother has built us a nest and given us a task outside, out on the periphery, out in the countryside. If we want to be Catholic, we ultimately need the blessing of our Holy Father for everything. Hence, march on Rome!"

(Fr Joseph Kentenich, 16 November 1965, Belmonte)

 

It is one of Fr Kentenich’s great wishes that the Schoenstatt Movement, which had been founded a hundred years ago in an unknown valley leading down to the River Rhine in Germany, should be present in the heart of the universal Church, in Rome. In 1965 the international Schoenstatt Movement, through its leaders in Rome, promised the founder that they would build an international Schoenstatt Centre in Rome. It took over forty years before this promise could be carried out.

As the building operations of the conference centre are completed, Fr Kentenich is finally receiving the gift promised to him on his eightieth birthday. It remains a task to fill this gift with soul, life and spirit. What is the Schoenstatt Movement doing with this gift to its founder?

What did Fr Kentenich do with the gifts he received?

What will Fr Kentenich do with this gift?

We have grounds to believe that he will do with it exactly what he did with all the gifts he received. He passed them on.

Many are convinced that he wants to give Pope Francis this shrine of love for the Church, this shrine that stands for the vision of a Church that is being formed by Pope Francis.

What the Schoenstatt Movement does with this gift of its founder to Pope Francis is up to it.