Pilgrim Mother Campaign

The Pilgrim Mother Campaign, also known as the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign, is an apostolic work founded by the Servant of God John Pozzobon and coordinated by the Schoenstatt Movement, counting presently more than 30 million members[1] in over one million groups spanning 120 nations of the world.[2]

Pilgrim Mother / Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign

The Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt Logo of the Schoenstatt Movement
Formation	10 September 1950 (1950-09-10)
Founder	Servant of God John Pozzobon
Type	Catholic Lay Apostolate
Purpose	Ministry of visitation of families, students, sick, elderly, prisoners, etc.
Membership (2017)	30 million, in 120 nations

Overview

The Campaign consists in the regular visit of an image of the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt Madonna to families, schools, hospitals and all places where families or people accept to receive her. It is carried out by lay volunteers - missionaries and coordinators - organized at the parish, diocesan, regional or linguistic levels.

The pilgrim image employed in the campaign is the same venerated in the Schoenstatt Shrines. They are replicas of the 'original pilgrim image' with which the campaign began and have the form of a sanctuary to express the essential link to the Schoenstatt Shrine and all the graces that there are received. They are blessed and sent from a Schoenstatt Shrine. The Secretariats of the Campaign of the Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt have the function of coordinating and help the missionaries in their work and relationship with dioceses and parishes.

History

The Campaign's founder, John Pozzobon, carrying the Original Pilgrim Image to a village on foot, as he habitually did

It was initiated by the Servant of God, Deacon John Pozzobon, a Schoenstatt Movement's member, on 10 September 1950. Feeling an inner call to get involved in some apostolate with Our Lady, he receives an invitation from Sister Teresinha Gobbo, from the Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, to bring the image of the Mother, Queen and Winner Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt to visit the families. Sister Teresinha entrusts him the image that had been blessed at the Schoenstatt Shrine of Santa Maria (Brazil) by Father Celestino Trevisan, telling him: "This image will be under your care. You don't need to pray the rosary every night. You should only take care that it peregrinates from home to home."[3]

John accepted this invitation. He assumes the task of taking the Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt to the families and exercises this mission for 35 years until the date of his death on 27 June 1985. With her, he travels over 87,000 miles carrying the Madonna picture in a shrine-shaped frame weighing over 25 pounds.[4]

From 1959, the Campaign multiplies through smaller replicas of the Pilgrim Mother to visit families monthly. In 1979, Pozzobon visits Germany and Rome, and the Pilgrim Mother Campaign takes an international dimension.

Theological Rationale

The Campaign is inspired by the attitude of Mary who went to visit her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-41[5]). It is an ecclesial ministry that the Church and the service of the Church, wants to collaborate with the ordinary pastoral care of parishes.

It is a popular apostolic work, as it seeks to reach all people in all situations of life, adapting to different pastoral realities: families, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc., following Jesus command: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16: 15).[6]

Another source of inspiration is the idea of the universal apostolic work according to Saint Vincent Pallotti regarding Mary: "She is the great Missionary; She works miracles".[3] It also performs a will of the founder of the Schoenstatt Movement, Fr. Joseph Kentenich, expressed in 1948, to bring the Mother of God to the homes and give Her a place of honor, for that they become small shrines.[3]

Walking the pilgrimage way with Mary means, Father Kentenich argued, being drawn into Mary's mission by bearing, bringing, and serving Christ. becoming another Mary: "Each of us bears a large share of the responsibility for the form that the world will take in the future. If this future—regardless of the specific characteristics it will have — is to bear the resemblance of Christ, then Mary must step more into the foreground and be acknowledged everywhere as the official Christ-giver, Christ-bearer, and Christ-bringer."[7]

Modalities

There are various types of "pilgrim images", according to the ministry on which they are used:[3]

The Original Pilgrim Image

It is the image with which Deacon John Pozzobon began the Pilgrim Mother Campaign in September 1950. This image was his 'pilgrimage companion' for more than 30 years. In 1980, he returned it to Sr. Terezinha Gobbo. Since Pozzobon's death, in 1985, the Pilgrim Original is kept in the Marian Center, home of the Schoenstatt Movement in Santa Maria (Brazil).

Pozzobon with the Pilgrim Mother visiting a peasant family

Auxiliary Pilgrim Images

They are the images intended for a diocese, a diocesan shrine or a more specific apostolic work. The first one was received by Ubaldo Pimentel, also from Santa Maria (Brazil), on 8 December 1979. They are exact replicas of the original Pilgrim Image. According to interpretation of Deacon John Pozzobon, the Auxiliary Images are like an 'extension' of Fr. Kentenich's blessing to the Campaign, on 4 August 1951. As an expression of their union with the 'Original', all 'Auxiliaries' are blessed and sent from the Schoenstatt Shrine of Santa Maria, where the campaign began.

Parish Pilgrim Images

Similar to the Original image and the Auxiliaries, but made in a smaller size and without the doors covering the picture of Mary. Each parish can have its image to use it in novenas, processions and other activities. Some parishes organize an itinerary for its parish image, where it visits the various chapels, schools, church groups, etc. Normally, the parish pilgrim image is under the care of the parish coordination team, which may delegate responsibility to a leadership campaign.

'Occasional' Pilgrim Images

A Pilgrim Mother image for the blind

Used in various apostolic works of the Campaign of the Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt: the sick, in shops, hospitals, prisons, etc. They are entrusted to a missionary who organizes the itinerary and the form of ministry. All images are registered with the national secretariat of the Campaign.

Pilgrim Images for Families

The most known and used in the world by the Campaign, they circulate monthly and on a permanent basis a group of families. Each image is in the care of a missionary, responsible for the image in his group. All have a number registered in the secretariat responsible for the geographic area.

Pilgrim Images for Children and Youth

They are entrusted to young people and children who are placed as apostles for other young people and children. They can also be used in schools and catechism groups. All images used in this ministry are registered with the secretariat of the Campaign.

List of countries or territories (per continent) where the Pilgrim Mother Campaign is present

Countries where the Pilgrim Mother Campaign is present in the world (in blue)

This list follows the geoscheme created by the United Nations Statistics Division.[8] According to the UN, the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.[9]

Some countries may have more than one website on this list, for linguistic or organizational reasons. Others, for the same reasons, may share a single site.

Countries with the field "website" in blank mean that the country doesn't have a webpage dedicated exclusively to the Campaign's Secretariat.

Source of the data: Pilgrim Mother Campaign Secretariat from Brazil for Southern and Southeastern regions[10] and German-speaking Secretariat from Switzerland,[1] except where another source be expressly indicated.

Africa

Flag	Name	Campaign	Website
	Algeria	No
	Angola	Yes[11]
	Benin	Yes
	Botswana	No
	Burkina Faso	Yes
	Burundi	Yes
	Cameroon	Yes
	Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)	Yes
	Central African Republic	Yes
	Chad	Yes
	Comoros	No
	Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)	Yes
	Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa)	Yes
	Djibouti	No
	Egypt	No
	Equatorial Guinea	No
	Eritrea	Yes
	Ethiopia	Yes
	Gabon	Yes
	Gambia	No
	Ghana	Yes
	Guinea	No
	Guinea-Bissau	Yes
	Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	No
	Kenya	Yes
	Lesotho	No
	Liberia	Yes
	Libya	No
	Madagascar	No
	Malawi	No
	Mali	No
	Mauritania	No
	Mauritius	No
	Mayotte (France)	No
	Morocco	Yes
	Mozambique	Yes
	Namibia	No
	Niger	Yes
	Nigeria	Yes
	Réunion (France)	No
	Rwanda	Yes
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)	No
	São Tomé and Príncipe	No
	Senegal	Yes
	Seychelles	No
	Sierra Leone	No
	Somalia	No
	South Africa	Yes
	South Sudan	No
	Sudan	No
	Swaziland	No
	Tanzania	Yes
	Togo	No
	Tunisia	No
	Uganda	No
	Zambia	No
	Zimbabwe	Yes[12]

Americas

Flag	Name	Campaign	Website
	Anguilla (United Kingdom)	No
	Antigua and Barbuda	No
	Argentina	Yes
	Aruba (Netherlands)	No
	Bahamas	No
	Barbados	Yes
	Belize	Yes
	Bermuda (United Kingdom)	No
	Bolivia	Yes
	Bonaire (Netherlands)	No
	Brazil	Yes	National Secretariat Secretariat for Northeastern and Southern Regions
	British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)	No
	Canada	Yes
	Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)	No
	Chile	Yes	National Secretariat
	Clipperton Island (France)	No
	Colombia	Yes	National Secretariat
	Costa Rica	Yes	National Secretariat
	Cuba	Yes
	Curaçao (Netherlands)	No
	Dominica	No
	Dominican Republic	Yes
	El Salvador	Yes
	Ecuador	Yes	National Secretariat
	Falkland Islands	No
	French Guiana (France)	No
	Greenland	No
	Grenada	No
	Guadeloupe (France)	No
	Guatemala	Yes
	Guyana	No
	Haiti	Yes
	Honduras	Yes
	Jamaica	Yes
	Martinique (France)	Yes
	Mexico	Yes
	Montserrat (United Kingdom)	No
	Navassa Island (United States)	No
	Nicaragua	Yes
	Panama	Yes
	Paraguay	Yes	National Secretariat
	Peru	Yes
	Puerto Rico	Yes
	Saba (Netherlands)	No
	Saint Barthélemy (France)	No
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	No
	Saint Lucia	No
	Saint Martin (France)	No
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)	No
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	No
	Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)	No
	Sint Maarten (Netherlands)	No
	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	No
	Suriname	No
	Trinidad and Tobago	No
	Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)	No
	United States of America	Yes	National Secretariat
	United States Virgin Islands (United States)	No	National Secretariat
	Uruguay	Yes	National Secretariat
	Venezuela	Yes

Asia

Flag	Name	Campaign	Website
	Afghanistan	Yes[13]
	Akrotiri and Dhekelia (United Kingdom)	No
	Armenia ^[Europe]	No
	Azerbaijan ^[Europe]	No
	Bahrain	No
	Bangladesh	No
	Bhutan	No
	British Indian Ocean Territory (United Kingdom)	No
	Brunei	No
	Cambodia	No
	China	Yes
	Christmas Island (Australia)	No
	Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)	No
	Cyprus ^[Europe]	No
	East Timor (Timor-Leste)	Yes
	Georgia ^[Europe]	No
	Hong Kong (China)	Yes[14]
	India	Yes	Secretariat
	Indonesia	Yes[15]
	Iran	No
	Iraq	Yes[16]
	Israel	Yes
	Japan	Yes
	Jordan	No
	Kazakhstan	No
	Kuwait	No
	Kyrgyzstan	Yes
	Laos	No
	Lebanon	Yes
	Macau (China)	Yes
	Malaysia	Yes[17]
	Maldives	No
	Mongolia	No
	Myanmar (Burma)	No
	Nepal	No
	North Korea	Yes
	Oman	No
	Pakistan	Yes
	Palestine	Yes
	Philippines	Yes
	Qatar	Yes[18]
	Saudi Arabia	No
	Singapore	Yes
	South Korea	Yes
	Sri Lanka	Yes
	Syria	Yes[19]
	Taiwan (China)	Yes[20]
	Tajikistan	Yes
	Thailand	Yes
	Turkey ^[Europe]	Yes
	Turkmenistan	No
	United Arab Emirates	Yes[21]
	Uzbekistan	No
	Vietnam	Yes
	Yemen	No

Notes

• Transcontinental countries in Europe and Asia, classified as Eastern European countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:
   Russia.

Europe

Flag	Name	Campaign	Website
	Åland Islands (Finland)	No
	Albania	Yes
	Andorra	Yes[22]
	Austria	Yes	National Secretariat
	Belarus	Yes
	Belgium	Yes	National Secretariat
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Yes
	Bulgaria	No
	Croatia	Yes	National Secretariat
	Czech Republic	Yes	National Secretariat
	Denmark	Yes
	Estonia	No
	Faroe Islands (Denmark)	No
	Finland	Yes[23]
	France	Yes	Regional Secretariat for French-speaking countries Secretariat for Cambrai
	Germany	Yes	National Secretariat Secretariat for Czech and Polish-speaking groups
	Gibraltar (United Kingdom)	No
	Greece	No
	Guernsey (United Kingdom)	No
	Hungary	Yes	National Secretariat
	Iceland	Yes
	Ireland	Yes
	Isle of Man (United Kingdom)	No
	Italy	Yes	National Secretariat Regional Secretariat for Sicily
	Jan Mayen (Norway)	No
	Jersey (United Kingdom)	No
	Latvia	No
	Liechtenstein	Yes	Secretariat for the German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein
	Lithuania	No
	Luxembourg	Yes	Secretariat from Germany
	Malta	Yes[24]
	Moldova	No
	Monaco	No
	Montenegro	Yes
	Netherlands	Yes
	Norway	Yes
	North Macedonia	No
	Poland	Yes	National Secretariat
	Portugal	Yes	Mission for the University Students
	Romania	Yes	National Secretariat (Romanian/Hungarian)
	Russia	Yes
	San Marino	Yes	Secretariat for San Marino and Italy
	Serbia	Yes
	Slovakia	Yes	Secretariat for Western and Central Slovakia
	Slovenia	Yes
	Spain	Yes	National Secretariat Secretariat for Catalonia
	Svalbard (Norway)	No
	Sweden	Yes	National Secretariat
	Switzerland	Yes	French-speaking Secretariat German-speaking Secretariat Italian, Croatian and Polish-speaking Secretariat Portuguese-speaking Secretariat Spanish-speaking Secretariat
	Ukraine	Yes
	United Kingdom	Yes	UK Secretariat Secretariat for Scotland
	Vatican City/Holy See	Yes

Notes

1. • Transcontinental countries in Europe and Asia, classified as West Asian countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:  Azerbaijan,  Georgia,  Kazakhstan,  Turkey.
   • Entirely in West Asia, but commonly associated with Europe and a member of the Council of Europe:  Armenia,  Cyprus.

Oceania

Flag	Name	Campaign	Website
	American Samoa (United States)	No
	Ashmore and Cartier Islands (Australia)	No
	Australia	Yes	National Secretariat
	Baker Island (United States)	No
	Cook Islands	No
	Coral Sea Islands (Australia)	No
	Fiji	No
	French Polynesia (France)	No
	Guam (United States)	No
	Howland Island (United States)	No
	Jarvis Island (United States)	No
	Johnston Atoll (United States)	No
	Kingman Reef (United States)	No
	Kiribati	No
	Marshall Islands	No
	Micronesia	No
	Midway Atoll (United States)	No
	Nauru	No
	New Caledonia (Sui generis collectivity of France)	Yes
	New Zealand	Yes	Campaign's representative
	Niue	No
	Norfolk Island (Australia)	No
	Northern Mariana Islands (United States)	No
	Palau	Yes[25]
	Palmyra Atoll (United States)	No
	Papua New Guinea	No
	Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom)	No
	Samoa	No
	Solomon Islands	No
	Tokelau (New Zealand)	No
	Tonga	No
	Tuvalu	No
	Vanuatu	No
	Wake Island (United States)	No
	Wallis and Futuna (France)	No

Antarctica

Antarctica, regulated by the Antarctic Treaty System, has no government and belongs to no country. It was there that a bronze image of the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt was installed in 1984 at the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station, located at the King George Island, in the Admiralty Bay.[26]

See also

• Servant of God John Pozzobon;
• Schoenstatt Movement;
• Father Joseph Kentenich.

References

1. "Projekt Pilgerheiligtum | Schönstattbewegung Schweiz". schoenstatt.ch. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
2. "History of the Pilgrim MTA". www.schoenstattrosarycampaign.com. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
3. Bittencourt, Marcelo Valvassori. "Tabor MTA". tabormta.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
4. "Deacon John Pozzobon". www.schoenstattrosarycampaign.com. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
5. "Luke 13A 39-41 NIV - - Bible Gateway". www.biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
6. "Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
7. Astell, Ann W.; Peters, Danielle M. (October 2014). p. 82. "Schoenstatt's Shrine for the Pilgrim People of God". Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture. 3 (2). Retrieved July 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
8. "Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings". United Nations Statistics Division.
9. "Standard country or area codes and geographical regions for statistical use". United Nations Statistics Division.
10. Bittencourt, Marcelo Valvassori. "Tabor MTA". tabormta.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
11. "Towards 2014 – In covenant with Afghanistan". Schoenstatt.org. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
12. "Chirenderano chenyu kutumwa kwedu…". Schoenstatt.org. 2011-08-19. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
13. "Towards 2014 – In covenant with Afghanistan". Schoenstatt.org. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
14. "Toward 2014: in covenant with Hong Kong, Hungary, India and Indonesia". Schoenstatt.org. 2011-03-31. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
15. "Toward 2014: in covenant with Hong Kong, Hungary, India and Indonesia". Schoenstatt.org. 2011-03-31. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
16. "Going where she is needed–the Pilgrim Mothers' in the Middle East". Schoenstatt.org. 2016-12-25. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
17. "On the Way to 2014 – in covenant with all the projects of a covenant culture in business". Schoenstatt.org. 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
18. "Now and from this place bless every member of our family throughout the world…". Schoenstatt.org. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
19. "She can't wait anymore: the Pilgrim Mother wants to fly to Syria". 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
20. "Toward 2014 – in Covenant with Taiwan". Schoenstatt.org. 2012-06-12. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
21. "Towards 2014 – In covenant with Afghanistan". Schoenstatt.org. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
22. "Schönstatt - Grenzübergänge". www.schoenstatt.de. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
23. "Toward 2014 - in Covenant with Finland". Schoenstatt.org. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
24. "August Masses in Covenant with Malta, Morocco, and Mexico: a gaze at the spirit of the internationality thru the network". Schoenstatt.org. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
25. "The Pilgrim MTA once again: Palau (Palaos)". Schoenstatt.org. 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
26. "A MTA está na Antártida". Campanha da Mãe Peregrina de Schoenstatt (in Portuguese). 2011-10-12. Archived from the original on 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-05-31.

External links

• Video about the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign.