Last September 2004 the Scots joined the thousands of other Schoenstatt pilgrims in making their way to Rome the eternal city to celebrate the opening of the International Schoenstatt shrine and centre. As other articles in this magazine have shown it was a memorable event for all those who attended. However as can often happen once the banners and marquees have been packed away and the chairs stacked it can all fade to a distant memory. In reality the real work of building up the new centre now has to get underway in earnest. In January of this year I had the chance to pay another short visit to Rome. I was curious to see how the building site around the shrine was developing. During the festivities in the previous September we all saw the new shrine to the MTA and the sacristy all ready to welcome visitors but that was all that was visible. The machinery and building materials were all hidden behind green gauze fencing.

Since then Mr & Mrs Abrams a Brazilian couple have moved into a local apartment to be able to look after the day to day running of the shrine and open it to the public. Ideally the shrine should be directly looked after by the trustees who are the Schoenstatt diocesan priests. However since all the priests of the institute are also working parish priests and under the jurisdiction of the their diocesan bishops, not many bishops are keen to let free for such a work. Speaking as a diocesan priest who works with Schoenstatt I see bishops like mother hens who can be very protective about their priests which is good, but there are times when the two activities, diocesan work and Schoenstatt can create tension as they vie for attention.

On arriving at the site on the Via Boccia I was surprised to find the gate padlocked. Fortunately I now have that ‘must have gadget’ of the new millennium a mobile phone and I called Mr and Mrs Abrams. They told me the shrine is usually open from 3.00 pm in the afternoon when one of the Schoenstatt fathers comes and celebrates mass. The big plus for the centre is a very pleasant café come restaurant outside the main gate so I was able to order lunch and eat outside in the mild winter sunshine. Not something I would recommend in Scotland during January.

Come 3.00 pm I returned and found the gate and shrine now open. Although Brazilian Mr Abram’s family originally come Italy and he showed me around. The shrine sits on the top of a rise over looking a large hole in ground which has been dug in readiness for the foundations of the new centre. Fr Federico the Schoenstatt father soon arrived with a couple from Sicily and he invited me to concelebrate mass with him. Despite being unfinished the shrine and the centre is beginning to attract a sizable number of regular visitors both during the week and at weekends. Even during my brief visit people were there from South America, Rome and other parts of Italy. There are no shortage of shrines to Our Lady in Italy and around Rome, but the MTA does seem to be attracting people who sense the special grace and atmosphere of the centre. Although the church going habits of many Italians can be very hit and miss they still hold a special love of Mary which finds a resonance at the shrine. It is this love which the centre and those caring for it hope to build on in the years a head.

This was my only chance to visit the shrine but I look forward to a return visit to see how it is growing and developing.

Fr Michael Savage

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