(mkf) In November 2000, fifty Pilgrim Shrines were sent out from Santa Maria, Brazil, for fifty countries in which the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Shrine Campaign had not yet began. Representatives from Uruguay brought a Pilgrim Shrine for Turkey to the first replica Shrine, built in 1944 in Nueva Helvecia, Uruguay. Mid-January they could announce the Pilgrim Shrine's arrival in the predominantly Muslim Turkey.

Raquel María Puig Terra of Montevideo, Uruguay, simply stated in a phone call to Monina Badano, Argentina: "The Pilgrim MTA that was entrusted to me in Santa Maria in November 2000 is in the hands of the Archbishop of Izmir, Turkey!"

A small group of Schoenstatt pilgrims from Argentina and Uruguay, visiting the holy sites of early Christianity in Turkey, could pass on the Pilgrim MTA to Archbishop Giuseppe G. Bernardini, OFM Cap, of Izmir (Smirna). Before they went to Turkey, they had been in Schoenstatt, Germany, where they experienced Advent and Christmas. The Pilgrim Shrine for Turkey was with them, especially during the Covenant Mass in the Original Shrine on December 18, 2000.

Now this picture of grace was passed on to the Archbishop of Izmir. "It was a very emotional moment," shared Raquel María Puig Terra, "especially as we were close to the House of the Blessed Mother in Ephesus. The rest is now in the hands of our Blessed Mother."

Monina Badano, Argentina, and Raquel María Puig Terra, Uruguay, contributed to this report

English edition: Joan Biemert, New Franken, Wisconsin, USA