March 19, 2022

Moderators: Richard and Ingeborg Sickinger are responsible for the Schoenstatt Movement in Austria and co-workers in the preparation team for the Pentecost Congress 2022.

More than 100 participants have signed up to discover how Kentenich Intensive Courses can empower people to access and apply Father Kentenich’s answers for todays world.

The background:

At Pentecost Congress 2022, those responsible for Schoenstatt from all continents will meet at the Original Shrine to engage in a worldwide exchange of life.

In preparation for this, the national Schoenstatt movements have been invited to submit current inspiring ideas, projects and currents from their respective countries. Through this initiative we will learn a lot about the life of the Schoenstatt Movements from all over the world!

A comparison:

What is a trend? Small changes – in different places – ocurring at the same time, as current research defines it.

So, when we see a snowdrop here, a spring flower there, and over there another one; we can say „Spring is coming!“

This is what we are observing here: Something is moving in the Schoenstatt world, something is growing, our dear God is working here.

We notice a great deal of joy in working with Fr. Kentenich: discovering him, exploring him, meeting him, immersing oneself in his world.

Out of this longing, courses and further training courses are emerging and growing in many countries. They are called Kentenich Academies, Schoenstatt courses or pedagogical courses. We call this trend „Kentenich Intensive Courses“.

Kentenich Intensive Courses are advanced training initiatives, very often organized by/for laypeople which

• convey Father Kentenich’s answers, his concept of renewal, his message
• apply them to current issues and concrete challenges,
• introduce into his thinking, his life and his way to live with God,

The aim is to empower individuals and married couples to take responsibility for building up Schoenstatt and the Church.

We look forward to hearing about these initiatives today and have selected three  example/models:

1. Schoenstatt in Brazil is known for João Pozzobon, the initiator of the Pilgrim MTA campaign.

It is less known that Schoenstatt in Brazil has a thriving Academy for Family Pedagogy. The Academy originally from Austria and now spread across ten countries was founded in Brazil in 2013 and has already trained 47 married couples for the apostolate (to become “active agents”, as Pope Francis writes in Amoris Laetitia).

2. The Schoenstatt Family Federation is the fastest growing community in Schoenstatt worldwide.

We introduce you to an initiative of the Schoenstatt Family Federation in Germany called „Leadership & Movement„: the qualification of married couples for movement work, Schoenstatt projects and leadership tasks

3. There were several successful examples from Hungary. Today we hear about the initiative “Small Kentenich University” a combination of life school and university studies. The roots of Schoenstatt and the way of thinking of Father Kentenich are studied in courses lasting several years.

There would be even more, e.g. the advanced course in Kentenich Education  or the International Kentenich Academy for managers. That means there is a lot to discover and things to talk about in the groups!

What connects these three excellent example/models? The successful mediation of Fr. Kentenich:

• To live and pass on his pedagogy
• His way of leading through movement
• Understand and apply his way of thinking

It’s about the future of Schoenstatt  that it will be built in the spirit of Fr. Kentenich. That people grasp his way of thinking, implement his leadership style, convey and live his pedagogy. In a word: that he can have an impact on the church and the future of society.