A group of 50 teachers and administrative staff and the management and board of the Catholic school of Naestved in Denmark travelled to Rome to celebrate the school’s centenary. On 10 May 2024, the pilgrims visited the Shrine of our Mother of Perpetual Help in Rome to thank God for the continued development of an institution that teaches and educates children and young people and to thank the Redemptorists who founded it 100 years ago.
The jubilee pilgrimage to Rome was organised by the Naestved school board, which wants the school to continue to be a Catholic educational institution in collaboration with the Redemptorists.
A legacy that commits us to the future
Father Janusz Turek CSsR, pastor of Mother of Perpetual Help parish in Naestved, accompanied the pilgrims and presided over Holy Mass in Danish in the shrine. In his homily, he recalled the school’s history founded by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. He expressed his wishes for the future, for the school to continue to be a place where young people can receive the best education and embrace Christian values.
History that began 100 years ago
The history of the school is linked to the history of the Redemptorist presence and apostolate in Denmark. In 1899, the first Austrian Redemptorists, Fr Gaudentius Schmiderer and Fr Peter Steidl, arrived from Vienna to Odense, Denmark. Here, they built a monastery and a church and opened a school. Three years later, other fathers arrived in the Danish capital, Copenhagen (1902).
In 1922, the Redemptorists opened the third community of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in Denmark, in Naestved. A year later, in September, they founded a primary school, naming it Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Father Peter Steidl played a central role here. Within a short time, the Redemptorists’ new educational and teaching institution, in harmonious cooperation with the laity, grew in pupil numbers and popularity among the inhabitants of Naestved and the surrounding area.
In 2015, the institute was transformed into a private Catholic school run by lay people, mostly members of the Redemptorists’ parish. In September 2023, Vor Frue Skole i Næstved (https://vorfrueskole.dk) celebrated its 100th anniversary. It currently has more than 400 pupils, including about 50 children from Catholic families.
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