The nun wrote a letter to the mother general in Germany, who sent a copy to Kentenich and accused the nun of being possessed by the devil.
"Later when the apostolic visitor asked the mother general, who by that time had been dismissed, if she had received other letters of that kind, the mother general said there had been from six to eight letters, less serious according to her, which she had thrown away," sad von Teuffenbach.
"In the decree of the Holy Office nothing is written about the abuse, but the disputed facts are communicated in writing to the mothers superior, so that they may accept more easily the dismissal of the founder."
Catoggio, however, disputed her characterization of these actions as an effort not to expose the sisters.
"This interpretation seems to be laborious. It is probably meant to nevertheless somehow justify the thesis of sexual abuse," he said. The CDF was "not exactly reserved when accusations of abuse were made."
"On the contrary, it was repeatedly stated: The separation of Fr. Kentenich from his work is not a punitive measure, but an administrative order, i.e. a prudent measure taken through administrative channels."
The charge of sexual abuse was not brought in the Roman Curia proceedings to separate Kentenich from Schoenstatt, Catoggio insisted.
When sent from Germany, Kentenich stayed at a Pallottine house in Milwaukee, Wis. In this time, von Teuffenbach said, the records show that he "in no way complied with the Vatican provisions" which barred any further contact with the nuns.
The researcher described the nuns who defended Kentenich as those who "preferred the founder's charm to the directives of the Church."
"Those nuns never stopped writing, denigrating and slandering not only the visitors but also the sisters who had cooperated with them and the priests who had testified against Fr. Kentenich," she said, comparing these defenders to "the many women who are unable to get away from the husband who mistreats them and often excuse and defend him."
"This is the dark part of the story, but there is also an edifying part. And it is the Roman curia that operated under Pius XII and that - certainly in this case - succeeded in giving its best."
"The proceedings tell of an assiduous and meticulous search for the truth," she said, adding that the Church acted "in the most correct way possible for those women, without however demeaning them by publicizing the facts."
von Teuffenbach said she wrote Magister "to bring an end to the veneration of this 'father' and demolish the many proposed reconstructions of alternative truths, as if this were merely a matter of psychological weaknesses in the face of a man at once so charismatic, skillful, and terrible."
Magister described the Schoenstatt movement as "still one of the most renowned and widespread on a worldwide scale."
A former Schoenstatt superior general, Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, was Archbishop of Chile from 1998 to 2010 and elevated to the cardinalate in 2001. Pope Francis made him an adviser in 2013, as part of the Council of Cardinals. He left that role in 2018.
Bishop Francisco Javier Pistilli Scorzara of Encarnacion, a Schoenstatt Father, commented July 2 that the accusation would require "a lot of objectivity."
"In some way, our founder is put to the test. We trust he will pass the test, but he has to be seen to do so, with impartiality," he said. "I am convinced that this is not a matter of becoming defensive, but about taking courage in the light. It can be painful, it will surely be. Questions will come up, perhaps even from ourselves. It's time to understand and seek answers without fear and without the need to paint a picture of a perfect founder."
"If the Church confirms his holiness, it won't be 'for being the one who always had the answers and never took risks beyond the conventional'," said the bishop.
Pistilli said that the Church doesn't thoroughly understand the abuse of power, and it was a question in the process to canonize Padre Pio.
"He passed the test," said the bishop.
"Downplaying things is not is not always the best option. Much less in times like these," said Pistilli. "Nor is it good to speak without knowledge. How much do we really know? Can we go deeper into what all this means? Without seeing just what we want to see, but with objectivity. I like to think we can."
"God is light and those who follow him have to be seen in his light," said the bishop.