The Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Fathers was founded on 18 July 1965. Our first Constitutions were approved by Pope Paul VI in May 1966. The dedication of our Shrine on Mount Sion, Schoenstatt, Germany, took place on 30 August 1970. The Institute received pontifical recognition on 24 June 1988 and its Constitutions received final Vatican approval on 22 February 1994. Our first General Chapter took place in 1974, and there have been other three General Chapters since: in 1980, 1991/92 and 2003.
Many places of pilgrimage (like Lourdes or Fatima) are distinguished by their message. Although Schoenstatt is not characterized by apparitions or extraordinary outward signs, Fr. Kentenich was convinced that God gives a special message through Schoenstatt that can be characterized as
This is what is sometimes called the “threefold message of Schoenstatt.”