WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service via Crux
November 2, 2020
Book offers details about alleged manipulation by Schonstatt founder
Vallendar, Germany – Can a “great founding figure” be beatified when some of his own followers level such accusations at him?
After causing a stir with her article about Father Joseph Kentenich in the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost in July, Rome-based church historian Alexandra von Teuffenbach has now presented evidence to back her accusations in her book titled Father Is Allowed to Do It! It contains detailed descriptions by several Schonstatt Sisters of Mary about Kentenich’s style of leadership, reports the German Catholic news agency, KNA.
“How can one offer this man, this priest, as a model to the Christians in the world, after what he has done and said?” von Teuffenbach writes in the foreword.
Kentenich, who died in 1968, remains popular to this day. Von Teuffenbach has accused him of systematic manipulation, abuse of power and sexual harassment. The researcher has based her claims on sources that include newly accessible Vatican documents from the pontificate of Pope Pius XII.
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