Dominican Republic

Our Schoenstatt Shrine and center in the Dominican Republic is located in La Victoria, one hour north of Santo Domingo in the southern part of the island of Hispaniola. Our sisters there form a delegation of their own within our North American province. The central residence, called the delegation house, is located here.

Our sisters in the adjacent retreat house welcome visitors to the shrine and offer events and retreats for our Schoenstatt Movement and other Catholic organizations from the area.

In the northern part of the country, our sisters have a house in Tenares, from where they work with the local movement. They also take care of the nearby Schoenstatt Shrine, owned by the Schoenstatt Institute of Diocesan Priests.

In addition to the work with our movement, the sisters are involved in the administration of various social projects:

The Niño Jesús Nutrition Center, located on our property in La Victoria, serves undernourished children ages five and under. Approximately 100 children are registered at the center. There they receive meals and snacks rich in vitamins and nutrients, necessary medications, a daily bath, and clean clothing.

The older children take part in preschool classes. Volunteers and employees at the center help with these various aspects and also join the children at games and play. Because of the center’s proximity to the shrine, the children also take short walks together to visit the Blessed Mother there.

In connection with a parish from Tampa, Florida, the program Semillas de Esperanza – Seeds of Hope – provides assistance to families in La Victoria and the surrounding areas.

Our sisters identify families in need who then receive food, clothing, medicine, furniture, house construction and repairs, and other essential items and services. In addition, the families are taught to provide and care for themselves by learning to cultivate their own land.

We also serve at the John Paul II Polytechnical School in Santo Domingo, owned by the Jesuit organization Fe y Alegría.

Specialized classes for middle and high school students prepare them for technical career tracks such as accounting, electrical engineering, computing and data processing, culinary arts, and soon, hotel management.

In the northern part of the country, close to our house in Tenares, our sisters run the Milagros Cruz Vocational School. Technical courses free of charge are offered to approximately 200 women each year. They learn practical occupations such as sewing, cooking, baking, hairstyling, photography, painting, interior decorating, flower arranging, jewelry making, and more. This enables the women to earn money to finance further studies or to make a living for their family. The teaching staff at the school is sponsored by the Ministry of Education.

Hermanas de María de Schoenstatt
Villa Schoenstatt
La Victoria, Sto. Domingo Norte
Dominican Republic
Delegation House: 809-222-8006
Retreat House: 809-222-8148
hermanasdemariadeschoenstattrd@gmail.com

Hermanas de María de Schoenstatt
Casa María Emilia
Duarte #26
Tenares
Dominican Republic
809-587-8351