The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt celebrates the conclusion of their 100th years Jubilee

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On Saturday, October 25 in the Paul VI Hall (Vatican) Pope Francis received more than eight thousand pilgrims coming from more than fifty countries, belonging to the Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt, celebrating the conclusion of their 100th years Jubilee.

On 18 October 1914, in Vallendar (Germany) in a tiny chapel – the "original Shrine" - near the Rheine river Father Joseph Kentenich and his students  sealed a Covenant of Love with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

From this covenant the Schoenstatt Movement was born. Now it is spread in more than 100 countries  all over the world.

The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt considers itself a movement of the Church faithful to her magisterium. For this reason after a solemn celebration in the place of birth in Germany, Shoenstatt wanted to make a pilgrimage to Rome to meet the Holy Father from whom they expected a new impulse for the next hundred years and to put themselves at his disposal.  At the meeting with the Holy Father of all the members of the movement was present also H.E. Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and Monsignor Miguel Delgado Galindo, Under Secretary. The gathering was a dialogue between Pope Francis and the audience. The questions and answers session dealt with the  five fields of apostolate typical of the association. The apostolic projects -that are an essential part of the 2014 Schoenstatt Jubilee - were the occasion for dialogue regarding the signs of the times and the challenges   of mankind in our era,  a dialogue that starts always from “facts” and from real life..

Meeting the Holy Father was a missionary mandate to continue to build bridges with God and with people: "We have to work to create a culture of encountering one another!  A culture that helps meeting one another as a family as a movement as Church as parish community… we have to always seek how to meet.  The only thing I recommend you is to  look for the Book of Genesis, the story of Joseph… The culture of encountering one another is the culture of covenant. God chose us,  he promised us and, in the middle, He made a Covenant with his own people… The culture of encountering and the culture of covenant. In this way we create solidarity, ecclesial solidarity.. Thus the culture of encountering creates that unity that is not a lie: it is the unity of holiness that brings about the culture of encountering one another.”

The dialogue of Pope Francis  began from the perspective of walking together with Jesus, hand in hand with Mary, having Jesus at the center so that mission could lead everything to Him, who is the center of culture and of every human being: “Mary is basically a mother. She is not only a mother, that is something small, she is a Queen. Mary is a mother. Why? Because she gave you Jesus... A Church without Mary is an orphanage. Thus, she instructs us, she helps us grow, she accompanies us, she touches our consciences....Mary is the one that helps Jesus to 'discend'. In the discend of Jesus she brings Him, from Heaven, to live among us. She is the One that sees, takes care, advices, she is 'present'. . . The center is only one: Jesus Christ! When I put at the center of my life my pastoral method, my pastoral plan, my way of realizing it, I put Jesus out of the center.  All spirituality,  all charism in the Church, the most rich and the  most various, everything has to be put aside: at the center there is only the Lord… The center is only Jesus!! The apostle is always  a person out of his/her center , because he/she is a servant; he/she is  at the service of the center.  The charism out of its center does not say “us” or “I”; it says “Jesus”; “Jesus and I”; “Jesus asks me…”; “I have to do this for Jesus”.  Jesus is always at the center.

Below you will find the link in order to read the complete version of questions and answers with the Holy Father:

http://www.news.va/es/news/familia-pedagogia-juventud-sociedad-e-iglesia-resp

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