Christmas 2010 – Update on the Original Shrine

Fr. Heinrich Walter. In October 2010, the delegates of the Pallottine provincial assembly of the Sacred Heart Province of Germany and Austria “cleared the way for an agreement with the Schoenstatt Movement on Schoenstatt the place.” Practical steps forward are being agreed upon in discussions between the provincial superior of the Pallottines, Fr. Hans-Peter Becker, and the provincial superior of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Germany, Fr. Theo Breitinger. The Original Shrine, along with the pilgrim place and the sacristy in the “Old House” shall be given over (in a usufruct contract) to the use of the Schoenstatt Movement as of 1 January 2012. This agreement is a first step towards a speedy and complete clarification of the status of the Original Shrine and the valley of Schoenstatt.

A usufruct contract and the details concerning the use of these properties will be worked out by September 2011 by respective commissions of the Pallottine Society and the Schoenstatt Fathers. Thereafter will be time for the necessary transformations to be effected by 1 January 2012.

The General Presidium has discussed the fundamentals for the future cooperation regarding the use of the Original Shrine. The Schoenstatt Fathers, according to the wish of our Founder, shall take over the responsibility. They will establish an administrative board. A commission of Schoenstatt members will draft statutes for the Original Shrine, presenting them to the General Presidium for approval. In response to multiple requests, a {cms_selflink page=”account-original-shrine” text=”special account “}has been opened exclusively for this purpose.

We thank the community of the Pallottines for the fruitful dialogue over the past months and for their openness to changes in the use of the Original Shrine.

We trustingly place the further steps forward and the work of the commissions into the hands of Our Lady.

Schoenstatt, 8 December 2010

Fr. Heinrich Walter

Official Letter (pdf)