Hildegard Lea Burjan (née ''Hildegard Freund''; 30 January 1883 – 11 June 1933) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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convert from

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and the founder of the Sisterhood of Caritas Socialis. Burjan set up several organizations for the promotion of women's rights and for the rights of all workers and their families and this even saw her elected to the

Austrian Parliament The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...

where she served until her retirement due to ill health. The beatification process commenced under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1982, and

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

named her as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

in 2007; that same pope beatified Burjan in 2012 though Cardinal

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, S.D.B. (born 8 June 1938) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 2018. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of ...

presided over the celebration on the pope's behalf.

Life

Hildegard Freund was born to non-practicing

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents in the German Empire in 1883 as the second-born to Abraham and Berta Freund. The Freunds relocated to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1895, where she was sent to high school and the Freunds relocated once more in 1899 to Switzerland where she studied in Zurich at the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

there. Freund graduated from high school in 1903 after the completion of her examinations and then began her college studies. Freund studied German literature as well as philosophical and sociological studies under the two

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

professors Saitschik and Foerster in Switzerland, and then in Berlin, when she returned in 1907 to also start an economics course; she obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1908. On 2 May 1907 she married the Hungarian entrepreneur Alexander Burjan (26 November 1882 - 6 November 1973). In October 1908 she suffered from severe renal colic that forced her hospitalization on 9 October at the Saint Hedwig Catholic Hospital in Berlin where she underwent several operations. Just before

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

1909, the condition got to the point where doctors gave up all hope but she was healed from this grave illness after Easter on 12 April 1909. It was during her hospitalization that she came to admire the work of the Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo. This illness prompted her

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to the Roman Catholic Church; she was baptized on 11 August 1909 and her husband followed in August 1910. Burjan moved with her husband to the Austrian capital of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where she bore her sole daughter Lisa on 27 August 1910 despite possible risk, as past pregnancies had threatened her life. The doctors advised her to have an abortion, but she refused and exclaimed: "that would be murder!" Burjan soon started to take interest in the social issues of the nation and took a particular interest in the working conditions and spiritual welfare of the poor. In September 1912 she gave an address at the annual gathering of women's leagues, and in 1912 founded the "Christian Women Working at Home" and in 1918 the group dubbed "Social Help". The former group offered social protection and better wages as well as legal assistance. Her social activism was also due to inspiration she received from the late Pope Leo XIII's 1881 Rerum Novarum on social teachings and conditions. On 16 April 1914 she gave another talk at another such annual gathering and discussed the topic of women's rights and the importance of women in the workplace. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she defended the idea of women replacing men in factories and hailed the trend even after the war. The prelate

Ignaz Seipel Ignaz Seipel (19 July 1876 – 2 August 1932) was an Austrian prelate, Catholic theologian and politician of the Christian Social Party. He was its chairman from 1921 to 1930 and served as Austria's federal chancellor twice, from 1922 to 1924 ...

said that he had never met a more enthusiastic or wise politician as Burjan while Cardinal

Friedrich Gustav Piffl Friedrich Gustav Piffl (15 October 1864 – 21 April 1932) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Vienna. Gustav Piffl was born in Lanškroun, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire. He was the son of Rudolf Piffl ...

dubbed her as "the conscience of the Parliament". On 3 December 1918 she earned a seat on the district council and became the vice-chair to the chairman of the Christian Socials Leopold Kunschak. Her main achievement remains the founding of a religious congregation for serving the poor, and on 4 October 1919 founded the congregation titled the "Sisterhood of Caritas Socialis". The first ten women joined that October at a special

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

. In 1918 she became active in the Christian-Socials, and in 1919 became one of the first female members of the

; she spoke in the Parliament for the first time on 12 March 1919 and at one point filed a petition for the extension of legal rights of expectant and nursing mothers. Burjan concerned herself with issues such as equal wages for men and women and social protection for the working class as well as social and spiritual care for poor families. Burjan was invited to run in the 1920 elections and was proposed as the Minister for Social Affairs but declined due to poor health; she informed the executive committee for the Christian Socials that she would not re-contest but retire instead. On Pentecost in 1933, she suffered a severe and painful renal inflammation. Burjan died on 11 June 1933. The ailing woman murmured on her deathbed: "how beautiful it will be to go to rest in

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

!" and then kissed a

Crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

and spoke her final words: "Dear

Savior Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or l ...

- make all men lovable so that You might love them. Enrich them with Yourself alone!" The order that she founded received diocesan approval in 1936 and then papal approval from

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

in 1960. Her remains were later moved in 2005.

Beatification

The official start to the cause came on 7 January 1982 under

, after the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

issued the official "

nihil obstat ''Nihil obstat'' (Latin for "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way") is a declaration of no objection that warrants censoring of a book, e.g., Catholic published books, to an initiative, or an appointment. Publishing The phrase ''ni ...

" to it. The cognitional process was also held from 1982 until 1983, and the C.C.S. later validated both causes on 24 May 1985 before receiving the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

dossier over a decade later in 1999. The board of theologians voiced their assent to the cause on 24 March 2006 as did the C.C.S. on 6 March 2007.

confirmed that Burjan had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

and named her as

on 6 July 2007. The process for a miracle needed for beatification spanned from 30 January 2001 to 12 March 2001 in the place it occurred in, and it received C.C.S. validation on 22 February 2002. The medical board met on 15 March 2007 but did not come up with a conclusive verdict so met once again on 10 December 2009 and approved it; theologians followed on 25 January 2008 as did the C.C.S. on 7 June 2011. The pope approved this miracle on 27 June 2011 and delegated Cardinal

to preside over the beatification in Vienna in his name on 29 January 2012. The current postulator for this cause is Dr. Andrea Ambrosi. On 11 June 2015 a memorial was revealed and blessed at a special Mass held at Saint Stephen's Cathedral. Suffragan bishop (Weihbischof) Helmut Krätzl and arch bishop (Erzbischof) Peter Zurbriggen were present for the blessing.

References

Literature

* Irmgard Burjan-Domanig: ''Hildegard Burjan, eine Frau der sozialen Tat''. 3rd ed. Caritas Socialis, Vienna, 1976 * Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz: ''Mystik, Emanzipation und Politik: Hildegard Burjan'' (1883–1933). Caritas Socialis, Vienna, 2004 * Alfred Koblbauer: ''Spiritualität''. 2nd vol.: Hildegard Burjan. Missionsdruckerei St. Gabriel, Mödling, 1976 * Michaela Kronthaler: ''Hildegard Burjan (1883–1933). Katholische Arbeiterinnenführerin und christliche Sozialpolitikerin''. Dr.-Karl-Kummer-Institut f. Sozialpolitik u. Sozialreform in Steiermark, Graz, 1995 * Michaela Kronthaler: ''Die Frauenfrage als treibende Kraft: Hildegard Burjans innovative Rolle im Sozialkatholizismus und Politischen Katholizismus vom Ende der Monarchie bis zur 'Selbstausschaltung' des Parlaments'' (= Grazer Beiträge zur Theologiegeschichte und Kirchlichen Zeitgeschichte, Bd. 8). Verlag Styria, Graz-Vienna-Cologne, 1995, * Ingeborg Schödl (ed.): ''Hoffnung hat einen Namen. Hildegard Burjan und die Caritas Socialis''. Tyrolia, Innsbruck-Vienna, 1995,

External links

Hagiography Circle

Caritas Socialis

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burjan, Hildegard 1883 births 1933 deaths People from Görlitz People from the Province of Silesia Austrian Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Christian Social Party (Austria) politicians Members of the Constituent National Assembly (Austria) 20th-century Austrian women politicians 20th-century German women politicians 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century German people German anti-poverty advocates Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Founders of Catholic religious communities Jewish German politicians German humanitarians Women humanitarians German beatified people Jewish women Roman Catholic activists University of Zurich alumni Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI