Schoenstatt Women's Federation

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Gertraud von Bullion (1914, as a Red Cross sister)
Creation of the Schoenstatt Women's Association (diagram)

The Schoenstatt Women's Union ( Unione Apostolica Femminile di Schoenstatt in Italian ) is a division of the Schoenstatt Movement, an independent international community of celibate women. As a federal community, the members are committed to the community, but are not legally bound. They usually live alone and work in secular or church professions. It is an association of believers recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a spiritual community of lay people and was founded in 1920. The association has around 370 (as of 2008) members from ten countries in Europe , North and South America .

history

In October 1914, Father Josef Kentenich SAC brought the Schoenstatt Movement into being, and in 1919 the Apostolic Union was founded. After women were accepted into the Apostolic Union, today's Schoenstatt Women's Union was founded under the leadership of Gertraud Countess von Bullion on December 8, 1920 as the Apostolic Union / Women . From this group the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary emerged in 1925/26 and the Women of Schoenstatt in 1938 . In 1947 the Schoenstatt Women's Association was reorganized into its original form, the conclusion of which was ceremoniously celebrated in 1950. Between the years 1951–1965, the women's association had to withstand a strict audit and church investigation, in the course of which the federal director and other lay employees were dismissed. From 1966 the first federal courses were formed in other countries and on May 14, 1967 the central house in Schoenstatt-Vallendar was inaugurated by Father Kentenich, it was named: Patris Familiae Coenaculum Patris (“ Coenaculum of the father for the family of the father”). In 1995, the Gertraud von Bullion House was inaugurated in the same place in memory of the founder. In the meantime, national courses had been established in Europe and South America . On September 15, 1996, the Association of Believers received approval from the Pontifical Council for the Laity during an audience with Pope John Paul II (1978-2005).

Self-image

The members of the Schoenstatt Women's Association are single Catholic women who do not live in communities . They feel committed to Catholic lay work and mission in the world. The community is led by a pronounced family character , the members follow a life in the sense of the evangelical counsels and are guided by a generous attitude. As a special goal, women strive for the formation and education of the Christian female personality.

Organization and expansion

The dual form of community practiced, to which every member belongs, is divided into the “dutiful community” of the Gaue and the “free communities” of the courses. The preparation and training period for membership is concluded with a corresponding covenant of love after nine years. The association has about 371 (as of 2008) members in various forms, they are represented worldwide in 10 countries in Europe , North America and South America . The women's association has its headquarters in Vallendar .

  • Overall responsibility lies with the international federal management, to which a church assistant is assigned. The international federal director (since 2014 Marianne Mertke) acts as chairwoman.
  • The districts are granted a high degree of independence; they include members from one or more dioceses , who in turn are divided into groups. They are led by guides who are responsible for accompanying, training and educating the members in a family-related manner . The management principle is: “ Authoritarian in principle , democratic in method and in the subsidiarity principle ”.
  • In the courses, which are led by a course mother, the members stay together for life.

As similar communities within the Schoenstatt Movement there are the women of Schoenstatt and the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary as secular institutes with closer and legal ties to the community. The members of the Institute of Women of Schoenstatt also live alone in the world according to the evangelical counsels, while the Sisters of Mary live in house communities and are particularly noticeable through their costume. The women's league is an open structure with no community ties. For married women, there is the Schoenstatt Mothers Union and the Schoenstatt Movement Women and Mothers as a league community.

literature

  • Liesel Houx: Schoenstatt Women's Association . In: Hubertus Brantzen (Ed.): Schoenstatt Lexicon: Facts - Ideas - Life . 2nd unchanged edition. Patris-Verlag, Vallendar 2002, ISBN 3-87620-195-0 ( moriah.de ).

Web links

Commons : Schoenstatt Women's Association  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Source: Schoenstatt Women's Association: Our History - Timeline s-fb.org
  2. ↑ New international management schoenstatt.de