Deo Gratias: Beatification is Set
![]() October 26, 2007. Linz, Austria. We have just received word
that, then and there, the Church will beatify Franz Jägerstätter.
Deo Gratias!
We rejoice, and we give thanks to God for the life of Franz
Jägerstätter, a martyr for the faith, a conscientious objector, a husband
and father of three who was executed for refusing any collaboration with
the Nazis.
We give thanks also for Jägerstätter's family, especially his wife
Franziska who keeps Franz's witness alive for the world. We give thanks
for the community members of Sant'Egidio, who have
so fervently supported Franz's cause for canonization. We give thanks for
Gordon
Zahn, whose book In Solitary Witness revealed Jägerstätter's
story to the English speaking world.
Most of all, we rejoice for the Church! This great man,
husband, father, peacemaker, and saint will now be invoked worlwide as a
friend of God and as one whose life merits imitation. The story of how he
followed Christ to his death by refusing to fight for the Third Reich will
be known ever more widely in the world. Deo Gratias!
Over the past weeks, some have noted that so many of us had already
been so certain of Jägerstätter's sainthood, and have questioned this need
for "official" recognition by the Church. While we can understand some of
the critiques directed at the canonization process, we are nonetheless
overwhelmingly grateful that Jägerstätter will now be venerated by the
universal Church, rather than just a select group of followers. The
process is not for Franz - who is alive with God and has no need for our
recognition - it is for us. We need him. And the
occasion of his beatification has tremendous significance: one more
peacemaker, one more conscientious objector, is being recognized
precisely for his refusal to go to war. This is one more
indication that peacemaking is no marginal vocation in the Catholic
Church: it is at our core, part of our ecclesial mission to help God make
us saints.
CPF is producing holy cards of Franz Jägerstätter in order to share his
witness and encourage prayer and devotion through his intercession. We
also are pondering a pilgrimage to Linz for the beatification. If you have
any interest in these projects, please let us know (staff at catholicpeacefellowship.org).
And now, let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, You filled your servant Franz Jägerstätter
with a deep love for you, his family and all people. During a time of
contempt for God and humankind you bestowed on him unerring discernment
and integrity. In faith, he followed his conscience, and said a decisive
NO to national socialism and unjust war. Thus he sacrificed his life. We
pray that you may glorify your servant Franz, so that many people may be
encouraged by him and grow in love for you and all people. May his example
shine out in our time, and may you grant all people the strength to stand
up for justice, peace and human dignity. For yours is the glory and honour
with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. (Diocese of
Linz, Austria).
To read more about the life and witness of Franz Jägerstätter, click
here.
In Peace,
the CPF Staff
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