New General Superior: Mr. Dietger M. Kuller

The Institute of the Schoenstatt Brothers of Mary has chosen the new General Council

SCHOENSTATT, hcz/mkf. The General Congress of the Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Brothers of Mary began their meeting on the 16^th of February of 2006 in Schoenstatt, place of origin of the International Schoenstatt Movement. During the first period, the new General Council was elected. The superior general is Mr. Dietger M. Kuller (53 years of age), with degrees in pedagogy and information systems, born in Neuss, in the Archdiocese of Cologne.

Until now he was the national assessor of the Schoenstatt Boys’ Youth of Germany and in this role he shared responsibility for the activities of the Schoenstatt Youth Branches during World Youth Day in Cologne. Within the community of the Brothers of Mary he coordinated and accompanied the formation of candidates in Burundi (Africa) and in India. His knowledge of information systems has been very valuable to his own community and within the International Schoenstatt Movement.

Mr. Heinz M. Depenbrock (58 years of age), Director of Medical Assistance of the Central Hospital of Montabaur, was re-elected as general vicar and first counselor.

Mr. Ernest M. Kanzler (57 years of age), until now superior general, a mechanical engineer by profession, was elected second counselor. The third counselor is Mr. Thomas Butz (37 years of age), industrial engineer. Professor Fr. Father Joaquin Schmiedl (48 years of age), member of the community of Schoenstatt Fathers and a professor of church history in the School of Theology of the Pallotine Fathers in Vallendar, will continue his position as spiritual assistant of the Institute.

Lay Sanctity

The Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Brothers of Mary, was founded in July of 1942 by Father Joseph Kentenich and the Austrian lawyer, Dr. Eduard Pesendorfer in the concentration camp of Dachau. Both of them were jailed for their opposition to the Nazi regime. Another candidate, the journalist Bernhard Pfeiffer, entered a short time after the founding and later he was assassinated when he attempted to escape. In 1957 a young engineer from Chile, Mario Hiriart (1931-1964) entered the community. As an engineer and later as university professor, he felt called to live a radical Christian life and to unite work, faith, apostolic commitment, leisure, and prayer in an organic way. As promoter of an distinctive lay spirituality that is typical for Schoenstatt, he decided to join the Institute of the Brothers of Mary: he wanted to commit all his time, energy, and talents to make God present and able to be experienced in the contemporary world marked by the rhythm and laws of industry, research, and technical enhancement. In his lessons, in his apostolate among youth, and in his personal reflections he worked on an deeper understanding of and convincing response to the challenges imposed on Christian lay persons in a growingly secularized world. At the same time he grew into a deep personal relationship with the Jesus to whom he offered his life as a living chalice, like Mary. At age 33, he accepted his terminal illness of cancer as a final possibility to give all for heaven and earth. His process of beatification finalized in 2004 at the diocesan level and the documents were sent to Rome.

The Secular Institute was recognized in 1993 by the Bishop of Trier with diocesan rights More than forty members and candidates work in groups or individually in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Burundi, Sierre Leone and in India. Their professional work is frequently united to the service of the different men’s branches of the Schoenstatt Movement.

Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA