On September 1, Pope Francis received participants in the general chapter of the Schönstatt Fathers, who are part of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement.

The Pope lamented the “plundering of human values, an unbridled plundering by ideological colonizations of every type. . . We often see that the nature of the family is under attack by various ideologies, that rock the foundations that support the personality of the human person and all of society in general.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary, he continued, “gives us hope and courage to reach out to those who have drifted away from friendship with the Lord, to recover them with the witness of a new life in Christ, characterized by mercy.”

The beatification cause of Father Joseph Kentenich (1885-1968), the movement’s founder, was recently put on hold as abuse allegations are investigated.