Josef Kentenich

Father Josef Kentenich (1885-1968), founder of the international Schönstatt movement, led a dramatic and adventurous life, inextricably linked to the mission he felt called to for a new era, its society, and church. A mission he did not choose for himself, but one that was intended for him, and for which he sought to pave a way—not to be honored, certainly not for comfort, but because he felt commissioned by God. He could have been broken by the family suffering of his childhood, despaired during his student years due to existential struggles of faith, died from his tuberculosis, or gone mad in the dark confines of a Gestapo prison. He also survived the years in the Dachau concentration camp and the long exile imposed on him by the church. His life possessed something fascinating, even for those who do not believe. In him shines a signal of hope with the encouraging message: life can succeed and gain a wide reach, even under the most difficult conditions. This narrative biography by Dorothea M. Schlickmann is based on many years of extensive historical and biographical research and includes black-and-white photographs.