Carlos Pedevila and Claudia Swett met on a blind date in Chile 28 years ago. It’s also where they first encountered the Schoenstatt movement. Swett’s grandmother had a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary that appears in all Schoenstatt shrines worldwide.
Schoenstatt is an international Catholic apostolate founded in Germany in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich. The lay movement promotes Catholic family life and devotion to the Blessed Mother.
The Jubilee Family Shrine in Sleepy Eye, the only Schoenstatt shrine in Minnesota, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
“(Father Kentenich) started the movement with a group of boys, then the sisters came. The sisters came to Argentina and then Chile,” Swett told “Practicing Catholic” co-hosts Leah Heselton and Father Tom Margevicius for an episode set to air at 9 p.m. Aug. 21 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Father Kentenich visited Chile several times, and because of that, Schoenstatt has a large presence in Chile. Father Kentenich brought the movement to the United States in areas near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Together, Pedevila and Swett participated in a Schoenstatt program for dating couples.
“For us, it was key,” Pedevila said. “We decided to join the group of dating (couples) with a priest, guided by a priest, and with friends and other couples. We were there for two years.”
When the couple got married, they officially entered the movement as a married couple. But Swett first visited the shrine in Sleepy Eye when she was 17 years old.
“One of the things that the Catholic Church has is the practical faith in divine providence. There’s no coincidence,” Swett said. “It’s so beautiful that I was there, I was 17, and I’m still very close to my host family.”
When the couple moved to Racine, Wisconsin, they were near Milwaukee, where another major shrine is. In Mexico City, where the couple lived for a time, there was no specific shrine for the Schoenstatt movement, so priests associated with the movement often stayed with Swett and Pedevila.
“It’s so beautiful to see how God takes care of you wherever you go,” Swett said. “Wherever you go, there’s a place.”
There are no other Schoenstatt shrines in Minnesota, Pedevila said. If there is no shrine close enough to visit, Swett said a shrine can be established in someone’s house.
“The idea is that (in) every neighborhood, there’s this home shrine, and it gives the graces for the whole neighborhood,” Swett said.
The 50th anniversary celebration of the Sleepy Eye shrine, the weekend of Sept. 18, will be full, Pedevila said. A rosary walk will precede Bishop Chad Zielinski of the Diocese of New Ulm celebrating Mass that Sunday.
Meanwhile, according to Schoenstatt on the Lake representatives, jubilees celebrated this year along with the shrine’s 50th anniversary include 150 years of St. Mary Help of Christians in Sleepy Eye, and 100 years of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary. To mark the celebrations, Pope Leo XIV has granted plenary indulgences for all who visit one of the Schoenstatt shrines, churches and chapels under the care of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary — including the Jubilee Family Shrine.
To hear more about the Schoenstatt shrine and movement, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. Aug. 22 and 2 p.m. Aug. 23.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes James Shackelford in an interview about the fruits of Encounter School of Ministry.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
