“LIVING SOMETHING IS CERTAINLY MORE INTENSE THAN SIMPLY OWNING SOMETHING…”.
Breaking news: The RTA Crown has been stolen!
It was a great surprise for the Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth branch. The RTA crown was a gift from Father Joseph Kentenich and has great sentimental value. We do not know where the crown is, but one thing is sure: the girls are inconsolable.
Perhaps that would be the headline of our news today if the RTA Crown had been stolen today. But it wasn’t. It happened 25 years ago.
In the year 2000, A robbery that made history
In 1945, Father Joseph Kentenich bestowed a crown – the RTA Crown – upon the Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth in Münster, Germany. The Founder gave it to them as a gesture of gratitude for their dedication to the Schoenstatt Work while he was a prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp.
As it was a gift from the Founder, the International Girls’ Youth increasingly identified with this symbol and adopted it as a mark of their way of life.
Josefina Bianchi, from Argentina, explains: “The RTA Crown not only has to do with the ideal of being Living Crowns and aspiring to be one every day, but it also unites us as International Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth and reminds me that there are girls from other countries who share the same ideals as I do”.
Gradually, the Girls’ Youth International adopted the RTA Crown as an ideal and a mission to embody its three pillars: Reinheit (purity), Treue (faithfulness), and Adel (nobility).
But the sad news came in 2000: during an international pilgrimage, the crown was stolen. To this day, this important symbol has not been found. However, the Girls’ Youth have found a way to make it ever-present.
A bold idea for the times
Even without the crown, in the year 2000, girls from different countries gathered in Schoenstatt, Germany, more united than ever. Many beating hearts, but only one heartbeat in unison leading the promise: WE ARE YOUR LIVING CROWN!
The crown of the RTA was missing, but in this event, they found their ideal as an international branch: to be the crown, a living crown for Mary.
In this historic photo, taken from an airplane, the girls form a “living crown”. The image was used to crown the MTA at the Girls’ Youth Center.
Rafaelle Nogueira, from Brazil, comments on this story: “It was a sad event, but today thousands of young women live, through Divine Providence, the ideal of being living crowns. I think that perhaps, if the crown had not been stolen, we would not have this strong feeling of being favorite daughters of the Father, because he gave us the crown and now, we have to live it – and living something is certainly more intense than simply possessing something…”
In the year 2025, we celebrate the jubilee of the RTA
It has been 25 years since the Girls’ Youth assumed the mission of being a living crown, and this year of grace brings a great blessing for this branch.
Recalling the heroic ideal that the branch embraced in the year 2000, the current generation will have the opportunity to gather and celebrate this event in Schoenstatt (Germany). From July 25-27, 2025, girls from all over the world will be able to shout together: “We are your living crown! TODAY, TOMORROW, TOGETHER!”
Approximately 600 young women from over 20 countries are expected to participate in this special occasion.
With great enthusiasm, an international team has been formed and is working on every detail to make this gathering even more joyful. The ANIMA team is responsible for the spiritual aspect of the event and for creating moments that foster connections among the girls and with God. The COR team is responsible for communication and, through social media, shares the preparation process, which it will continue to do at every moment of the Jubilee for all girls around the world. Finally, the CORPUS team is responsible for the logistics of the event and for managing the entire structure where the girls will carry out the activities of the Jubilee.
Daniela Gavilanes, from Ecuador, said: “If the theft had happened today, with today’s vigilance, it is very likely that the crown would have been found more easily. But, even if this had not been the case, I like to think that the Blessed Mother would have once again inspired in our hearts the desire to be a living crown, to be a youth eager for mission, using the current technological tools to spread the message worldwide, with the grace of the apostolic sending forth that is given to us from the Shrine”.
Knowing the history of our branch is essential so that we can see that our hearts beat like those of the Girls’ Youth of 1945, 1981, 2000, and later years: just one heartbeat in unison of thousands of young hearts beating for this mission.
