Denise Moro, who was João Pozzobon’s secretary and a volunteer for two years, talks to us about his death on June 27, 1985
Deacon Pozzobon’s death tell us a lot about him. He died on his way to the Shrine, his last steps were taken toward the Blessed Virgin. He always said he would walk until his last step for her, right? The deep significance this has for us, for the Movement, is something I am sure about: deacon João did not form the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate as something apart from the Schoenstatt Movement.
His apostolate always ended with a pilgrimage to the Shrine
I have no doubts that in him [João] we can find the aspiration that the Blessed Mother has about how the Movement should be, how Schoenstatt should act: carry the MTA’s sacred image to the families and take those families on a pilgrimage to the Shrine. All of deacon João’s apostolic work ended with a pilgrimage to the Shrine.
Pope Francis: step out of your parishes to the peripheries
Pozzobon could have been a simple family man who took the Pilgrim Mother to other families, but he went even further. He took the Pilgrim Mother to hospitals, jails, the outskirts, to places where the priests would not go and where there was no catechesis. João prophetically did what Pope Francis has told us to do: step out of your parishes to the peripheries. This dynamic Apostolate is the message Pozzobon left for the whole Movement.
João’s work is a letter from the Blessed Virgin to her children, to her Schoenstatt children, to the children of the Church about how we can evangelize. His death is not the end of his work, since he said that they would remain together, and I have no doubts with respect to this. The love he felt for the Blessed Mother, for the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate, makes him a great mediator in heaven for all those who want to follow in his footsteps, who want to continue taking the MTA to all.
João Pozzobon “a saint of great stature”
Most probably, another “João” may not be able to do all that he did, but each one of us, in our own way, with our own vocation, may do things, reach out, evangelize, teach as he did, in a simple form, taking the Pilgrim Mother, the rosary and his love to the poorest and neediest. I always say that João is a “saint of great stature”. How lucky we are to have Mr. João in heaven and that we had him on Earth showing us how to be saints, missionaries, evangelizers for these times, for these most difficult times!
Therefore, with great joy, we celebrate on June 27th João’s entrance into heaven with great fanfare, with great honor. He was surely received with great warmth by the saints and by the Blessed Virgin. It is a day of celebration, a day of joy, a day to remind us how a single individual can change the history of humanity, transform many lives, and lead many souls to heaven.
Source: www.schoenstatt.org.br
