As a priest,
Fr. Joseph Kentenich was a pioneer in the art of uniting theology,psychology
and educationinto a harmonious concept.
He was greatly sought after as a retreat master and during the course of his life, he accumulated a vast amount of experience in guiding and accompanying people spiritually and building educational structures.
Education is the selfless service of the life of others
Fr. Joseph Kentenich
A large part of his work consists of notes from his conferences and educational retreats aimed at a wide audience, dealing with the education of children, the formation of adults, the creation of community and many other areas of education. For decades, his innovative spiritual world has been carefully studied so as to become increasingly accessible to the public.
That which has today become known as Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy has been applied successfully in many institutions, universities, faith-sharing groups, religious communities, schools, homes, orphanages, families and companies.
In May 2009, the first university to apply Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy was inaugurated in Costa Rica. The Father Joseph Kentenich Pedagogical Centre in Argentina is a non-profit organization aimed at transmitting Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy to various segments of society as a response to the challenges of our age and to provide help to those who daily face the challenge of being architects for a new world that is more human, more united and more spiritual. In many South American countries, many professional and permanent formation courses using Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy are offered to teachers and professors. In Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, United States and India there are schools, colleges, nursery schools, technical training institutes, etc that use the principles behind Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy.
The “Fundación en Alianza” (Foundation in the Covenant) in Paraguay publishes school textbooks based on Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy. At a national level, it dedicates itself to the development of educational and cultural programmes and projects, creating educational books and offering retreat days for teachers. They also hold seminars on business management and courses for business people based on Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogical principles.
In academic circles, work has been done to apply Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy in areas that extend beyond schools and the education of children, in areas as diverse as economic, politics, journalism and organisational and management styles.
As a result of the publication of articles and pedagogical textbooks in various languages, the principles behind Fr. Kentenich’s thought have spread to a wide range of areas.
The people who practically apply his principles become increasingly enthusiastic about them. From their own lived experience, many of these people have spread Fr. Kentenich’s pedagogy in different ways.
