Monthly Archives: "March 2015"

GERMANY/USA, mda.  Fifty years have passed since that time when someone from the schoenstatt.org editorial staff was at the kindergarten and answered a question from the teacher about a city in North America with an amusing name “Milwaukee!” and to her confusion retorted, “what is that?”:  “A person in exile lives there, a person so feared by many that he was sent far away.”  A few months later, Father Kentenich – that was the name of the person in exile – left Milwaukee and went to Rome where he experiencedRead More
mda. "That the solidarity houses and solidarity can continue."  This was one of the 10 "dreams" for the future of Schoenstatt.org expressed during the its council planning meeting in Madrid at the end of January.  Since May 2013, the "100 houses" solidarity project has become an endless narrative of personal stories of solidarity - and not only for the eight Schoenstatt.org planning team who couldn't stop telling each other the best stories - in that there are now almost 150 houses donated in covenant solidarity with the poorest families onRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME, aica. During the general audience on 4 March, Pope Francis continued with the catechesis dedicated to families, following the spiritual exercises of the Curia and the Holy Father outside the Vatican for Lent.  The Pope dedicated his catechesis to the family and called for great care for elderly people in need, who live alone, are ill or depend on others.  He also asked newlyweds to renew their marriage vows every day.  "The 13th of March will mark two years since Pope Francis ascended the papal throne," commentedRead More
ARGENTINA, Claudia Echenique. Every year, on the last Sunday in February, the Schoenstatt Family of Región Gran, Buenos Aires, has an appointment; it is on the calendar for coming together and beginning the activities:  the Feast of Zion.  The Fathers of the Region (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Nigeria and Italy) conclude their annual meeting and have an Open House for the entire Family.  On this year’s occasion, there was also a farewell:  Bishop Francisco Piltilli celebrated his final Feast of Zion before assuming the position of Bishop of Encarnación, Paraguay.Read More
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Sarah-Leah Pimentel. The events that have taken place in Cape Town, South Africa over the last few days are a poignant starting point for our reflection in the third week of Lent. Devastating fires destroyed more than 4,000 hectares of natural vegetation along the mountain range in the southernmost tip of South Africa. The fire began unexpectedly in the night on a small section of the mountain near my house. Three days later, everywhere you looked all one could see was fire and billowing smoke. As the firefighters doused theRead More
ITALY, Gisela Ciola. Today is a day of celebration for me because today the Pilgrim MTA went out on her first mission! Therefore I am celebrating with great joy, and I want to wholeheartedly share this overflowing joy with all my Schoenstatt brothers and sisters; it is the first time I am sharing something this beautiful!Read More
LANDS OF AMERICA/ALETEIA.org. I met up with Buenos Aires’ Archbishop, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Fall 2005 in Rome. When I phoned to ask him for an interview, he responded with affability, but also firmly, “I would prefer to avoid an interview, although we also can meet to talk.”Read More
PARAGUAY, org. The Bishop of the Diocese of Caacupé, Claudio Giménez, a Schoenstatt Father, asked the people to pray daily for the visit of Pope Francis, “the messenger of joy and of peace.” In the traditional Sunday Mass, Bishop Giménez spoke about the Holy Father’s visit in July. He asked the Paraguayan people to pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary daily, as a sign of hope for the important visit. Moreover he presented the name that the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference (CEP) affectionately gave to Pope Francis. We areRead More
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Maria Fischer. The Schoenstatt Sisters at Constantia have been evacuated early in the morning of March 4, as firefighters are focusing their efforts on Noordhoek, Clovelly and Tokai this morning as well as assisting Groot Constantia residents evacuate as the flames fan out towards their doorsteps.  The massive blaze broke out in Muizenberg on Sunday, prompting evacuations from houses and retirement homes. Scores of people have also been treated for smoke inhalation this week. The entire mountain range south of Table Mountain is on fire… Updated  Read More
VATICAN/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, org. On the 24th of February 2015, Holy Father Francis appointed Father Andrés Napoleón Romero Cárdena as bishop of Barahona (area 6,973, population 396,270, Catholics 215,000, priests 28, permanent deacons 2, religious 54), Dominican Republic. The bishop-elect was born in Ramonal Arriba, Dominican Republic in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a licentiate in philosophy and letters and in religious sciences from the Pontifical University Mater et Magistra, Dominican Republic, and in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and has served in aRead More