Posted On 2010-02-14 In Something to think about

Interview with Father Angel Strada, Postulator for the Beatification Process of Father Kentenich

Fr. Ángel Strada

Francisco Grondona. The process for canonization for Father Kentenich was opened on February 10, 1975, in the city of Tréveris. Father Angel Strada, since January 20, 1997, is the postulator for the cause of Father Kentenich and also for Mario Hiriart whose process is now in Rome. In this interview, Father Angel tells us the status of Father Kentenich’s process…..the steps which must be followed and how to maintain alive the interest for the canonization of our Father and Founder.

 

What does the process for canonization consist of? What are the steps which must be followed and what is the procedure?

The process for canonization is the legislative procedure by the Catholic Church to verify the sanctity of a person and to recognize the person as a model of life according to the Gospel. The process also recognizes the person as an intercessor before God and authorizes the liturgical cult in his/her memory. Throughout the centuries, this process has had very different forms. At the present, according to the legislation in force since 1983, it consists of two stages. The first is informative and takes place in the diocese where the person died. It mainly consists in taking the declarations of the witnesses – in favor of and against – and in the collection of all materials which may serve to investigate his/her life and his/her heroism of virtues. The second stage in Rome is definitive. The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints evaluates all of the information received, and with the help of the judgment from eight theologians and eight bishops and cardinals, it reaches a conclusion which is presented to the Holy Father. In the case of confessors, subsequently they begin the investigation of the process of a miracle whose first stage takes place where the miracle occurred. In the case of martyrs, a miracle for beatification is not required.

When did the cause begin and what is the present status?

Fr. Ángel StradaOn request of the Schoenstatt International Presidium, the cause was officially initiated by the bishop of Tréveris, the Most Reverend Bishop Bernhard Stein on February 10, 1975, six and one half years after the death of Father Kentenich.

All of the requirements for the diocesan phase have been completed: the declarations of the witnesses, the examination of the edited writings, the collection and evaluation of the non-edited writings, the documentation on the reputation for sanctity, the declaration of the non-liturgical cult, etc. In this last section, due to the accumulation of work of the Diocesan Delegate who is simultaneously Vicar General of the Diocese of Tréveris, the cause has been somewhat delayed. He, as well as the new bishop, Bishop Ackermann, has explicitly manifested the willingness that in the next few months, the tasks can be completed. Many of them are of a technical nature: numbering of the records, authentication, preparation of indexes, etc. Subsequently the closing session can take place and all documentation can be sent to Rome. In due time I will inform the entire Family on this event.

How many writings of Father Kentenich were studied?

In the authentication of the causes, the presentation of all existing writings is required, and they are differentiated between those edited and those non-edited. The edited writings of Father Kentenich (books or published writings) were studied by theologians named for the task. They rendered judgment that they found nothing contrary to the dogma or the morals of the Catholic Church. The non-edited writings were the work of a commission of historians named by the Bishop of Tréveris. Approximately 120 religious and civil records in Germany and in all the countries where Father Kentenich was were consulted on the existence of documents referring to him. Approximately 29,000 writings have been catalogued (his letters and letters to him or regarding him, conferences, homilies, studies, notes, etc.). They are a testament to the founder’s great capacity for work…..a testament of his untiring service to persons and communities….. a testament of his wisdom and mission consciousness. They are also a testament to his moral authority and reputation for sanctity given that these motivated so many persons to safeguard as a treasure the letter received or the notes taken at a conference.

It is good to highlight that the examination of the writings does not constitute the central theme of a process. “Ideas are not canonized, lives are canonized,” I heard an expert say. What is most decisive is the concrete existence of the person and the footprints of an unconditional following of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the declarations of the witnesses who had close and direct contact with our Father and Founder are the most significant sources.

Father Kentenich stressed everyday sanctity. Can we consider that the miracle wrought by his intercession will not be a great manifestation but a small act?

Everyday sanctity is without a doubt a central message of our Founder. It is also a central message of the Second Vatican Council when it affirms the vocation to sanctity for all the baptized. But when the Church approves a miracle, She is affirming the existence of an extraordinary act of grace which transcends the laws of nature. It is a great manifestation of the power of God which has no possible scientific explanation and cannot be attributed to human or natural powers.

The requirement of a miracle for the beatification of a confessor comes from the desire of the Church to receive a divine confirmation for the positive result to which it has arrived after an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person and before giving the ultimate step of declaration to his/her sanctity. We know that Father Kentenich was very reserved before extraordinary phenomenons of grace. In no way did he deny them, but he always stressed the importance of practical faith in God’s actions in the ordinary events of life and history. He likewise stressed the importance of obedience to the norms of the Church. With confidence we have to implore for the gift of a miracle wrought by his intercession so that the Church can recognize his sanctity.

Is Father Kentenich’s process influenced by the fact that the diocesan phase has been concluded in the processes of several of his spiritual sons and daughters: Joseph Engling, Joao Pozzobon, Sr. María Emilie, Mario Hiriart?

Fr. KentenichThe Shrine has to become the “cradle of sanctity” for many according to the founding document. Whoever lives faithfully and generously the Covenant of Love of October 18th1914, is led to the fullness of the Christian life….. affirmed John Paul II in September of 1985. Our Father and Founder arrived to that fullness, and following him in the Covenant of Love so did many brothers and sisters. In the history of the Family, there are exemplary lives: Max Brunner, Hans Wormer, Father Reinisch, Barbara Kast, Gilbert Schimmel, Father Hernán Alessandri…..Their lives are a testament to the action of God in the history of our Family. They were different personalities and they lived in different cultures and eras. Nevertheless, they all had the same source of sanctity: the Covenant of Love. In different measures, they were all under the influence of the spiritual fatherhood of Father Kentenich. Likewise, they are fruits of their own aspiration for sanctity. Father Kentenich is not an isolated saint. I believe it is significant that along with his cause for canonization, the causes of some of his disciples are also on the way. They all manifest the fruitfulness of our Founder’s charisma and that the Holy Spirit wanted to give through Schoenstatt a new way of sanctity in the Church. There are ways which are very fruitful and recognized as those opened by Benedict of Nurcia, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola….. They have given to the Church and to humanity distinguished figures. The way opened by Father Kentenich begins to be guaranteed by the different causes for canonization. It is hoped that they are concluded with the recognition for sanctity not only in the life of the Founder but also in the lives of his disciples.

After more than 30 years of the process, how is it possible to maintain alive the interest of the Schoenstatt Family?

In my task as postulator, I have been able to experience in many ways the vitality of that interest, not only in persons but also in communities. Ultimately, a few weeks ago, I experienced this in beautiful meetings I had at the different centers of the Movement in Mexico. It is manifested in different ways: the prayer for the beatification, the praying of novenas, financial contributions, interest in the progress of the process, meetings and conferences on this topic, etc. Persons from many countries go on pilgrimage to the Original Shrine and Father’s tomb. They visit the Father Kentenich House and the House of Formation for the Sisters where Father Kentenich spent the last three years of his life. In almost all of the centers of the Movement throughout the world, memorials or places of encounter with Father Kentenich have been erected. These and many other manifestations express that the person of the Founder remains alive in his foundation. It is not odd that also alive is the desire that the Church recognizes his sanctity. The process has been ongoing for 35 years and it is hoped that the Roman phase can develop quickly. On the contrary, it will demand a great deal of time and work, but the importance is not the speediness of the cause, but the importance it has for the life of the Church.

What would the canonization of Father Kentenich contribute to the Catholic Church?

Each Saint contributes something decisive to the Church: he/she demonstrates that it is possible to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They demonstrate that the Christian faith does not consist of utopian ideals nor the mere proclamation of truths which are separated from reality. The new life given by Jesus Christ transforms human lives with their own name and surname. Each Saint has his/her own particular psychology and lives in a determined culture. No one is spared processes of maturation, experiences of the greatness of God and human smallness. St. Paul is different from St. Peter, Francis of Assisi is not Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila is not Teresa of Calcutta. Each one contributes his/her own personal and original following of Christ, and all together they manifest with their own profiles the immeasurable richness of the mystery of Christ. This makes it possible for us to have a diversity of models and ways for our own aspiration for sanctity. It is the meaning of the different spiritualities in the Church and of the free selection by each Christian to choose whom he/she wants to venerate and have as a model and intercessor in Heaven.

The theologian Von Balthasar affirms that the saints are “the answer from above to the questions from below.” Many questions asked in this span of history which we now experience were questions which Father Kentenich asked himself and he lived “with the hand on the pulse of time and the ear at the heart of God.” He answered many questions with his own life because he let God act in him and Mary educated him from the Shrine. We need contemporary Saints with whom we can identify because they are a part of the concrete world of which we are a part. Technical progress, the marvels of science, the Second Vatican Council, the affirmation of human rights are beacons of the twentieth century, meshed with dark shadows: modern orphanhood, concentration camps, two World Wars, growing secularism, injustices among peoples…..that scenario of Father Kentenich’s biography is not strange to us. The life of the present Church develops in this scenario. There you find the challenges asked of faith. The canonization of Father Kentenich will ratify the validity of the way he traveled and it would be publicly offered to the universal Church.

How can one collaborate in the cause for canonization?

A decisive collaboration is prayer. The canonization must be implored for like a gift. More concretely: we must pray for the grace of closure to the diocesan phase and for the grace of a miracle wrought through the intercession of Father Kentenich.

And we must not forget that answer by John Paul II to the Swiss youths who at St. Peter’s Square asked him for the canonization: “you canonize him.” The official recognition of the Church will be an historic event, but we cannot think that the reception of the person and message of Father Kentenich in the concrete life of Christians will automatically work. That depends first of all on the testimony and announcement from us who call ourselves his disciples. On the occasion of the centennial of our Father and Founder’s birth in 1985, John Paul II said to us: “you have been called to participate in the grace which your founder received and to place it at the disposition of the entire Church because the charisma of the founders is revealed as an experience of the Spirit which is transmitted to the disciples themselves so they may live it…..take care of it…..deepen it and constantly develop it in common and for the good of the entire Church.”

February 4, 2010
Fr. Angel Lorenzo Strada
Postulator

Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 021310

1 Responses

  1. Phyllis Nickchen says:

    Use us as your instruments for your greater honor and glory by the peoples of the world oh Holy,Mericful and Almighty God.

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