priest Tag

By Msgr Peter Wolf, DD • Today, the 23 July, twenty years will have passed since Pope John Paul II beatified Karl Leisner in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. I was present and can recall how at the beginning of the Mass the Bishop of Munster, obviously departing from the planned programme, introduced Karl with enthusiastic and engaging words. In his sermon the Holy Father quoted from Karl’s diary and spoke about his relationship to Schoenstatt. He said, “Even before he was imprisoned in Dachau he had developed deep devotionRead More
By Fr. Oscar Iván Saldivar • At the close of the Easter season, the Church invites us to reflect on the “ascension” of the Lord, the Resurrected Christ, into Heaven. What does the Ascension of the Lord mean? What are we celebrating? Every Sunday we recite in the Creed: “I believe in Jesus Christ…and ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty.” In this Mass we celebrate the “ascension,” the Resurrected Jesus rising up into heaven. But do we understand what we areRead More
By Maria Fischer • The General Congress of the Schoenstatt Institute of Diocesan Priests begins on Saturday, 15 January, at the Priests’ House on Mount Moriah, Schoenstatt. A total of 36 priests from eight provinces will gather until the 30 January and then they will have a second gathering on 14-28 August. Delegates from the Province of Burundi, founded in 2015, who now have the right to vote, will attend for the first time. Other news: two members from the Philippines Institute have been invited to the Congress as observers;Read More
GERMANY, from Maria Fischer • “That’s him!” The article that appeared in the Rheinische Post newspaper was as zestful and mischievous as Fr Theo Hoffacker, a member of the Schoenstatt Priests’ Federation, on his 90th birthday. “Heart and soul a priest”, Heinz Kühnen wrote, and that is what Fr Hoffacker is. “The man keeps himself fit: cycling and swimming are simply part of life. In the past he went with his twin brother to sail in the Adriatic, and until a few years ago he regularly went skiing in Switzerland.Read More
SPAIN, Miguel Lasso de la Vega • On Monday, 7 December, a Mass was celebrated in Madrid’s Serrano Shrine for Fr. José María García’s 30 years of priesthood. Memories and expressions of gratitude were shared. Thirty years at the service of the Schoenstatt Family and the Church, thirty years since Fr. José María García Sepúlveda gave his yes to be Christ’s shepherd, placing himself unconditionally in Mary’s hands to be a loyal and faithful instrument. This is what was celebrated with him on Monday, 7 December, at Serrano Shrine, withRead More
ARGENTINA, Córdoba, Juan Barbosa • On Saturday, 7 November, the first priestly ordination in its history was held in the Shrine of Life and of Hope: Juan Andrés Le Vraux is now a Schoenstatt Father. This celebration became a milestone that will remain forever in the Córdoba Schoenstatt Family’s memory. There were a thousand participants, a threat of rain, which in the end was delayed, and the presence of two bishops concelebrating along with more than thirty priests and seminarians. One of their sons, a member of the Boys’ Youth, whoRead More
CUBA, Maria Fischer’s interview with Fr. Egon M. Zillekens • “We reap what others have sown,” Fr. Egon Zillekens said, summarizing his experiences in Cuba, at the founding of the Federation of Diocesan Priests on this island full of joy, hope, and eagerness for the Holy Father’s visit, along with the “encounter” between this country and the United States, fruit on a great part by his mediation. “To see people dressed in t-shirts and pants with the colors of the United States flag in the middle of Havana seems likeRead More
Today, Fr. Esteban Casquero answers: He belongs to the Schoenstatt Secular Institute of Priests. He carries out his pastoral work in the southern zone of the Province of Buenos Aires – Argentina (Coronel Dorrego and Monte Hermoso with its adjacent towns). He has belonged to Schoenstatt since his youth; he was a member of the Boys’ Youth. From there, he began his Covenant Road in the heart of the Shrine of the New Shores in Mar del Plata. “I have lived beautiful times in the Schoenstatt life and that ofRead More
ARGENTINA, Buenos Aires, Mercedes Bonorino • “His death left a seed that those of us who were at his side have to make germinate,” Ricardo Lanusse expressed. On Saturday, May 9 – on the 78th anniversary of his birth – one hundred people attended the “Encounter with Father Esteban Uriburu” close to the Sion Shrine in Florencio Varela. It was more than a tribute. The proposal consisted in deepening in his ideal of life to enkindle oneself in his fire. To gather where he rests touches one, because it was thereRead More
CHILE/CUBA, Father Pedro Pablo Celis • After celebrating the 100 years as a Schoenstatt Family, we began to see the fruits and graces of this Jubilee. We have had the opportunity to look back to express gratitude for the gifts we have received throughout all these years, renewing our ideals and beginning to plan the next one hundred years. When we look toward the future, it is necessary to begin from who we are, from our identity. The Latin American Boys’ Youth, but especially the Chilean Boys’ Youth has identifiedRead More