Engelmar Unzeitig (; 1 March 19112 March 1945), born Hubert Unzeitig, was a German

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

who died in the Dachau Concentration Camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on the charge of being a priest. He was a professed member of the Missionary Order of Mariannhill and assumed the religious name Engelmar when he was admitted into the order. He became known as the "Angel of Dachau". In 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

recognized the fact that Unzeitig died ''in odium fidei'' () and Unzeitig was subsequently beatified on 24 September 2016 in a ceremony presided over by 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 ...

acting on the pope's behalf.

Life

Hubert Unzeitig was born on 1 March 1911 and had at least one sister. At the age of 18 he commenced his studies for the priesthood and also entered his novitiate with the Mariannhill Missionaries in

Reimlingen Reimlingen is a municipality in the district of Donau-Ries in Bavaria in Germany. Notable people * Józef Wojaczek (1901–1993), Roman Catholic Priest, member of the Mariannhill Missionaries * Paul Diethei Paul Diethei (26 June 1925 – 2 ...

; this was in contrast to his earlier intention to become part of the missions. He spent his time as a student of both theological and philosophical studies in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. In May 1938 he made his final profession of vows into the order and was received into it with the name of "Engelmar". He was later

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood on 6 August 1939 just a month before the outbreak of

and celebrated his first Mass on 15 August 1939 on the

Feast of the Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

; he was soon after assigned as a parish priest in 1940 in Glöckelberg in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(today ,

Horní Planá Horní Planá (; german: Oberplan) is a town in Český Krumlov District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bližší Lhota, Hodňov, Hory, Hůrka, Olšina, Pernek a ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

). The

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

arrested Unzeitig on 21 April 1941 for defending Jews in his sermonsFischel, Jack / Ortmann, Susan M. (2004): The Holocaust and Its Religious Impact: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography, p. 101
/ref> and sent him to the Dachau concentration camp without a trial on 8 June 1941. While there he studied the Russian language in order to tend to the Eastern European prisoners and administered to all prisoners in general in his role as a pastor. In the autumn of 1944 he volunteered to help in catering to victims of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

but he soon contracted the disease himself. From prison he wrote to his sister: "Whatever we do, whatever we want, is surely simply the grace that carries us and guides us. God's almighty grace helps us overcome obstacles ... love doubles our strength, makes us inventive, makes us feel content and inwardly free. If people would only realize what God has in store for those who love Him!" Unzeitig died of the disease on 2 March 1945 and was cremated. His ashes were smuggled in secret to Würzburg and he was hailed as the "Angel of Dachau".

Beatification

The process of beatification was held in Würzburg and was conducted in a usual form since it was conducted in two forms: the case in which miracles would be required and another in which a recognition of "in odium fidei" would be required. The "nihil obstat" (nothing against) for the cause was granted on 5 September 1988 which allowed for 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 ...

to confer upon Unzeitig the title Servant of God. The process for

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 ...

was conducted from 26 July 1991 until June 1996; the process was declared valid on 11 January 2002. 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 ...

on his life and virtue was submitted to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for further investigation in 2005 and allowed for

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 ...

to proclaim him to be

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 ...

on 3 July 2009. The next step would have meant the recognition of a miracle for beatification and indeed a process for one such healing was initiated and validated on 2 June 2007; a medical board based in Rome even approved it on 25 March 2010. However a simultaneous process was conducted from 26 July 1991 to 25 May 2012 to investigate if Unzeitig qualified for a decree of martyrdom and the process was validated on 14 December 2012 with another Positio submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for additional investigation.

approved those findings on 21 January 2016 declaring him to have been a martyr which would allow for his beatification, which was celebrated in Germany on 24 September 2016 with Cardinal

presiding on the pope's behalf.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unzeitig, Engelmar 1911 births 1945 deaths 20th-century venerated Christians People from Svitavy District Beatifications by Pope Francis German people who died in Dachau concentration camp Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era German beatified people Martyred Roman Catholic priests Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Deaths from typhus Sudeten German people

Life

Beatification

See also

References

External links