Church beatifies German priest who was executed by Nazis in 1944

CNA Newsroom, Nov 21, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Father Max Josef Metzger, a Catholic priest executed by the Nazi regime in 1944 for his peace activism and ecumenical work, was beatified Sunday in Freiburg, Germany.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, presided over the beatification Mass at Freiburg Cathedral as the representative of Pope Francis, the diocese reported.

“His death is an eloquent testimony to what constitutes a martyr in the Christian understanding of faith,” he said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

Metzger, who served as a military chaplain during World War I, became a passionate advocate for peace and reconciliation between nations after witnessing the horrors of war. In 1917, he developed an “international religious peace program” that he submitted to Pope Benedict XV.

“Peace between peoples and nations became his great passion,” Koch said in his homily, noting that this led Metzger to found both the World Peace League of the White Cross and the Peace League of German Catholics in 1919.

The cardinal emphasized that Metzger’s twin commitments to peace and Christian unity were inseparable. As the Nazi regime gained power, Metzger became increasingly involved in ecumenical work, becoming a promoter of the Una Sancta movement for Christian unity in 1938.

“Metzger was convinced that the Church can only credibly advocate for peace in the world when Christians and Christian churches reconcile with each other,” Koch said.

Nazi persecution

The Nazi authorities viewed Metzger’s peace work and public criticism of the war as treason against their ideology. He was arrested multiple times. On Oct. 14, 1943, he was sentenced to death by the People’s Court and executed by guillotine on April 17, 1944, at Brandenburg-Görden Prison.

According to prison chaplain Peter Buchholz’s account, the executioner remarked that he had “never seen a person go to their death with such radiant eyes as this Catholic priest.”

Koch connected Metzger’s martyrdom to today’s global challenges, noting that “when we look into today’s world with the terrible wars in the Middle East, in Ukraine, and in many other places, such dark prospects should no longer appear otherworldly to us but rather very realistic and current.”

Legacy of peace

The beatification of Metzger was approved by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in March, recognizing his unwavering commitment to peace and Christian charity.

Born in Schopfheim in Germany’s Black Forest region in 1887, Metzger served as a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. His last resting place is in Meitingen near Augsburg, Bavaria, where he had established the headquarters of the Christ the King Society in 1928.

The “beatification is a great honor for the Archdiocese of Freiburg,” Koch said. “At the same time, it comes with the demand that we are called to witness to peace and unity in today’s world in following Jesus Christ.”