With great joy we would like to share that, at the beginning of this year, the Institute of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Argentina submitted the request to open the process of beatification of Germán Orduna (1926-1999) to the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva. This decision came after having decided to review the life and work of this layman, family man and outstanding academic.
The Church of our times demands holiness in daily life embodied in committed lay people. In this case, a member of the Schoenstatt Family Movement of Buenos Aires.
A gift from Schoenstatt to the Church
There are two decisive reasons to pursue this cause: because we aim for it to be a gift from Schoenstatt to the Church, and because, as there are many voices – from very diverse fields – that have stated facts related to German Orduna’s life of sanctity, a group of testimonies has been gathered that clearly point to the reputation of sanctity that has developed since the moment of his death and has been growing ever since.
His reputation for holiness is centered on his love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and for the Virgin Mary, his main support in his daily life, and on his conscious and constant commitment to live coherently his Christian faith, as a husband, exemplary father and professional dedicated to teaching and research. His research at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) focused on medieval Spanish philology, and he never missed an opportunity to transmit his testimony of faith, as well as the values embodied in the epic of the Cid Campeador (read more here).
His unreserved dedication to his fellow man, whether he was a colleague, a student or a scholar, inspired by the timely word guided by the Holy Spirit, often marked, for those who knew him, a before and an after in their lives.
Who was German Orduna?
German Orduna was born in San Martin (Province of Buenos Aires) in 1926. He studied at the Escuela Normal de Profesores Mariano Acosta, where he began teaching at the age of 17. He graduated as Professor of Philosophy and Letters (UBA) and in 1952 he left for the city of Salamanca where he graduated in Hispanic Philology. He also studied Romanistics in Germany and then returned to Argentina and married Lilia Elda Ferrario in 1965.
He taught Medieval Spanish Literature at the University of Buenos Aires and was a researcher at CONICET, where he founded the Seminar on Textual Edition and Criticism (SECRIT) until his departure in 1999. In both places, he worked intensely for decades, educating young people and developing his discipline with deep paternalism towards his own and guiding their thinking towards the search for truth based on Faith. In 1992 he was appointed corresponding academician of the Royal Spanish Academy in Argentina.
He led an intense life of prayer and devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Schoenstatt, belonging to the Schoenstatt Movement since 1980, and a deep union with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which he strengthened as an Adorer in the Basilica of the Blessed Sacrament in Buenos Aires.
His life, centered on Spanish medieval literature, led him to live a chivalrous life as well as a Christian tenacity in the face of adversity, which he strengthened with faith and hope both in his earthly and in his heavenly homeland.
The phrase, with which he felt identified all his life until the end; his ideal, was:
“Wherever I am, I will be adoring the Blessed Sacrament.”
Translation: Maribel Acaron
