At a meeting held on February 19, the General Presidium of the Schoenstatt Work instituted the new International Coordination of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement for the next three years.
Fr. Arkadiusz Sosna, from Poland, will continue as international coordinator. He will be accompanied in this role by Sr. María Auxiliadora Bohórquez, from Ecuador.
For the past ten years, Sr. M. Cacilda Becker from Brazil has been at the helm of the International Coordination, doing pioneering and extensive work to consolidate this body. The Presidium took a special moment during its meeting to thank Sr. M. Cacilda.
The Coordination was created to integrate and serve the Movement’s life. Its responsibility is to carry out operational tasks that foster cooperation and inspiration, and to promote the common apostolate of the Apostolic Movement.
New coordinator
Sr. María Auxiliadora Bohórquez is Ecuadorian and has been working in the Movement since 1983, first with the Girls’ Youth and later with the Schoenstatt Family Movement.
From 1991 to 2009, she was in the provincial leadership of the Cenacle Province in Chile, first as an assistant to the sisters who worked for the Movement (until 2004) and then as the person responsible for the schools in Chile. During that time, she also participated in the preparation and celebration of the 1999 jubilee in Bellavista (50 years of mission, May 31).
In 2010, she was transferred to Ecuador, where she served as moderator of the Girls’ Youth and the Family League in Guayaquil and accompanied the Family Federation in Costa Rica.
Between 2019 and 2022, she served as the continental coordinator of the Schoenstatt Movement in America, contributing to strengthening communion and mission on the continent.
Since 2021, Sr. María Auxiliadora has also been superior of the Sisters of Mary in Guayaquil, where the National Shrine of Ecuador is located.
The mission of the International Coordination
Among the main responsibilities of the International Coordination are:
Information: maintaining the Movement’s official channels, especially the international website schoenstatt.com, to ensure worldwide communication and information exchange.
Coordination: collaborating, in a spirit of solidarity and awareness of mission, for the international unity of the Movement, bringing together the currents of life present in the different countries, promoting reflection on the signs of the times and mutual support in responding to what God asks.
Representation: to represent the Schoenstatt Movement before the Church and society at the international level.
The entire Schoenstatt Family is invited to pray for the mission of the new coordinators and for Sr. M. Cacilda Becker, that God may enlighten and guide them, and make fruitful their service to the unity and worldwide apostolate of the Movement.