First Congress of the Schoenstatt Institute of Families
The Institute of Families at International level, held its first Congress as a Community in early December 2022.
January 20, 2023
The Institute of Families at International level, held its first Congress as a Community in early December 2022.
20 Schoenstatt diocesan priests and friends of the Movement gathered at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Guayaquil, Ecuador for a moment of prayer, and then had a family-like encounter with Schoenstatt Fathers and Sisters and members of the Family Movement. An experience that filled everyone’s heart.
In Germany, Covenant of Love preparation lectures are being offered online. This method has been used because of the pandemic, and it confirms how the virtual world provides us with an excellent instrument to evangelize and to spread the graces of the Shrine.
The Christmas Eve Mass at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Quito was very colorful. Mary arriving on a donkey, offerings from five indigenous ethnic groups in Ecuador, and a homily by Father Eduardo Auza associating the reality of the people with the divine miracle of Bethlehem.
With the motto “Family, hope for the future”, Europe is preparing for its continental congress of Schoenstatt families, which will take place at the Movement’s center in Kahlenberg, Vienna, between April 28 and May 1, 2023.
Pope Benedict has passed away. We as Church mourn him. He was a very special and close friend to Schoenstatt. He appreciated our charism and mission for the Church, accompanying us in a fatherly way and feeling very much loved and supported by us. Here is a brief review of that fraternal relationship between Pope Benedict and Schoenstatt.
We are grateful for the first contributions sent in to learn about and appreciate the different traditions and types of nativity scenes in the world.
“These have been the best two days of my life! This is beautiful,” said one girl about her experiences after two days of sharing with other children and their leaders in the Original Schoenstatt. This was a group of children from parishes in the suburbs of Cologne, preparing for their first confession and communion. Experiences that deepen their faith with communal and spiritual encounters.
For several years now, the San Rafael Parish of Villa Devoto has been celebrating Mass in a street corner of the neighborhood for the Novena of its Patron Saint. Nothing spectacular: a crossing of streets, a small house with an open door, a neighbor who provides a small table and a tablecloth, another one who places some stools… But isn’t it often the smallest thing, the most insignificant, the source of the greatest thing?
Around November 23, churches and public buildings will be illuminated in red. In prayer, Christians unite with their persecuted brethren in the faith and remember the many martyrs of our day.
On October 29, the II National Congress CIEES Brazil was held with the title: Entrepreneurial Mission – When Success Meets Saintliness.
As an initiative of the Schoenstatt Fathers, the Pentecost Foundation was created, to ensure that the Kentenich pedagogy seal is maintained in the Schoenstatt schools. Currently, 13 schools belong to the Network of Kentenich Schools. They have just met in Spain and Portugal to deliberate on the KPM, Kentenich Pedagogical Model, which provides an integral and organic pedagogy.
A Place, a Movement, a Way of Life, a Mission