Volume > Issue > Note List > An Unknown Hero Has Been Beatified

An Unknown Hero Has Been Beatified

When the Nazis brought on World War II, Americans knew the Nazis’ war was unjust and immoral. But Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria failed to condemn the Nazis’ unjust and immoral war. As far as we know, the Holy See also failed to explicitly condemn the Nazis’ unjust and immoral war. They were afraid that if they did, the Nazis would increase their persecution of Christians. (See Charles J. Gangi’s article in this issue for the details of Pope Pius XII’s wartime Christmas addresses.)

Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian, refused to serve in Hitler’s army. He knew that Hitler’s war was unjust and immoral. He was beheaded by the guillotine in Berlin’s Brandenburg Prison on August 9, 1943. He was a devout Catholic, not a pacifist or a political man. An unknown hero, he stood completely alone.

Pope Benedict declared Franz Jagerstatter a martyr on June 1, 2007. Jagerstatter’s beatification ceremony took place on October 26, 2007.

Für Gott und Vaterland — “for God and Fatherland” — the Nazis attacked foreign countries.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

The Curse of Total Sexual Freedom

The valorization of unrestricted freedom in regard to sex — precisely because it is morally corrupt — proves psychologically debilitating as well.

Letter to the Editor: January-February 2018

The Real Extent of Creative Destruction... Far Beyond Lambeth... A Vacated Bridge?... Avenue of Appeals: Closed Until Further Notice... Prescience of the Vampire... The Kids Aren't Alright... Division You Will Always Have with You... The Beast Within Us... and more

The Great Catholic Science Textbook Debate

Any approach to teaching science must begin with certain attitudes and assumptions about the nature of the world around us.