Current Status of the Study of the Accusations Against Father Joseph Kentenich

In July 2020, the Church historian Dr. Alexandra von Teuffenbach made several accusations against Father Kentenich. She had found documents in the Vatican archives, accessible only since March 2020, which she interpreted as evidence of abuse of power and, in one case, sexual abuse by Father Kentenich.

1. Steps for clarification and processing

• July 2. 2020
In a statement by the General Presidium of the Schoenstatt Movement, these accusations were denied. Father Eduardo Aguirre, the postulator of Father Kentenich’s cause for beatification, made the same statement after reviewing the Vatican documents.
• July 4. 2020
Schoenstatt created a Media Commission to respond to media inquiries on behalf of the General Presidium, coordinate Schoenstatt’s presence in the media, and, since then, shed light on the background of issues raised in articles and show their connections.
• July 7. 2020
Bishop Ackermann has decided to create a new Historical Commission to study previously inaccessible documents in the Vatican archives and include them in the documentation of the beatification process. The Schoenstatt Movement welcomes and supports this step of the diocese.
• from September 21. 2020
Father Eduardo Aguirre, the cause’s postulator, is researching the Vatican archives to make other documents from this historical phase of Schoenstatt available to the public.
• October 10. 2020
The Schoenstatt Movement has created an international research group to continue the work on the visitation and exile period, preparing an edition of various historical texts and a correct interpretation of Father Kentenich’s principles and actions.
• March 5. 2021
After much consultation, Bishop Ackermann expanded the originally planned commission into a group of experts, with representatives from various disciplines working together. This group is freer in its work and can discuss the results openly.
• July 7. 2021
In July 2021, the Patris Publishing House published the first edition of the series Documents on the History of the Schoenstatt Movement, which contains the reports of the Episcopal and Apostolic Visits from 1949 to 1953.
• September 16. 2021
The District Court of Berlin has denied a request for a temporary injunction against the author and publisher of the book “Father Can Do That.
The Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary had filed the motion in 2020; the subject of the dispute was the accusations of sexual abuse made in the book. The aim was to ensure that the content of the dispute with the Founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, would be as objective as possible. The Regional Court based its refusal on the freedom of science guaranteed by the German Constitution, which is to be interpreted broadly and includes one-sided interpretations and irrational arguments. The Regional Court did not evaluate the content of the accusations. (See the court case)
• May 3. 2022
Bishop Dr. Ackermann announced his decision to suspend the diocesan process for the beatification of Father Joseph Kentenich. “At this time, Bishop Dr. Stephan Ackermann will not actively continue the process but will encourage further free research. – At the same time, it is important for the Bishop to point out that the suspension of the process does not mean that a judgment has been passed on the life and work of Father Kentenich (cf. press release Trier)
• May 3. 2022
An allegation of sexual misconduct made to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was investigated and dismissed by the diocesan office there in the 1990s. In the press release issued by the Diocese of Trier on May 3, 2021, Bishop Ackermann announced that he “had a former federal prosecutor review the allegation, which had already been investigated by the Church in the U.S., to determine whether the investigation at that time could still be considered sufficient under today’s criteria. The legal opinion does not come to a clear conclusion but suggests that this question be evaluated in the context of the other aspects that still need clarification”. (see Trier press release)
• April 19. 2022 and May 19. 2022
Under the title “Confrontation with the Holy Office,” the first and second volumes of Study Edition 3 of the series Documents on the History of the Schoenstatt Movement will be published in April and May, in which the correspondence between Father Joseph Kentenich and his Superior General, Father Adalbert Turowski, SAC, will be made available to the public.
• July 18. 2022
In July 2022, the second edition of the series Documents on the History of the Schoenstatt Movement will be published, making the correspondence and speeches of the 1949 Episcopal Visitation available to the general public.
• February 12. 2023
In February of 2023, the third volume of the series “Documents on the History of the Schoenstatt Movement” will be completed with the title “Confrontation with the Holy Office,” in which Father Kentenich himself will be heard in his correspondence with his Superior General and will present his view of the developments.
• April 11. 2024
In mid-April, the first volume of the document that 75 years ago was the starting point of the conflict between Father Kentenich and the Church leadership was published in the series Documents on the History of the Schoenstatt Movement by the Patris Publishing House under the title Epistola Perlonga – Father Kentenich’s Reply to the Report of the Episcopal Visitation of 1949. This important text on the self-understanding of the Movement was previously only available to members of the Movement in internal editions. As members of the International Research Group established by the Schoenstatt Movement in October 2020, Prof. Dr. Manfred Gerwing and Prof. Dr. Joachim Söder have edited and annotated a historical-critical edition of the Epistola perlonga.

2. How the issues now discussed were handled in the past

• The accusations surrounding the visitation and the exile were common knowledge among the movement’s leadership and individual members. Various publications also mentioned accusations regarding the founder’s moral integrity. However, research was not yet sufficiently advanced for a coherent historical publication on the period of the visitations and the founder’s exile.
• It could be assumed that all the accusations made against Father Kentenich in the context of the visitation and the exile had become irrelevant due to the end of the exile and his return to Schoenstatt in 1965. On the other hand, they had been dealt with and evaluated in the beatification process; the Roman phase of the process, which is still open, regularly includes another detailed study of the files. There was no reason to distrust the work and results of the process. There was no reason to suspect sexual abuse, as the long-time postulator, Father Ángel Strada, affirmed.
• Documents previously kept only in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith archives are now available for further research into the history of Schoenstatt and Father Kentenich. It is now possible to compare the inventory in the Schoenstatt archives and in the beatification process with the documents in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith archives to see if there are aspects that have not yet been considered.
• Investigations in our own archives were intensified immediately after the allegations became known in July 2020. This is a time-consuming and tedious process. Essential results will be published gradually.
• An allegation of sexual misconduct made to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which is now being reviewed, was investigated and dismissed by the Milwaukee diocesan office. It remains to be seen what information can be found today beyond the findings at that time.

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