During the Nazi-regime in Germany he found his greatest strength and lasting orientation by trusting in her motherly care and protection. Mary was with him, when he was interrogated by the Gestapo for his treason against the Nazi State; she was with him when he decided freely - in trying to realize God's Will - to go to the concentration camp of Dachau, and Mary never left his side during the 3 1/2 years of imprisonment and suffering.
After the libertion of Dachau by the Allies, Father Kentenich continued his work in building his Schoenstatt Family all over the world. With a Vatican diplomatic passport he travelled to South Africa, United States of America and Latin America. During this time, Schoenstatt was examined by the Church authorities - an examination which Father Kentenich had hoped for. The Visitation was a great success. However various critical comments were made which Fr. Kentenich found essential and could not ignore. In Bellavista, Chile, he wrote a letter as an answer to the report of the Visitation. During the night of 31st May, 1949, he laid the letter on the altar of our Lady's Shrine. This letter was the beginning of his exile. The letter of 31st May was received by the German bishops with great criticism. So much so that Fr. Kentenich was removed from his foundation and sent to Milwaukee, USA. He remained there for 14 years until his rehabilitation by Pope Paul Vl in a special audience.
At the height of this conflict, he expressed the wish - as it was in fact later fulfilled - to have the words Dilexit Ecclesiam - he loved the Church - written on his tomb. The 14 years in Milwaukee, separated from his life's work, were sufficient proof of his love.
In the three years left to him at the end of his exile in 1965, he dedicated his time and energy to the consolidation of Schoenstatt world-wide. His never ending message is the reality of the Covenant of Love with the Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, so that people today and tomorrow may believe. The process for his beatification was opened on 10th February, 1975.
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