Franz Jaegerstaetter, Objector, Martyr, Blessed

Despite desperate pleas from his family and the advice of his priest, Franz Jaegerstaetter decided to follow his conscience and refused to fight for Hitler. On August 9, 1943 he was beheaded.

Bishop Tom Gumbleton, Fr. John Dear, and other members of Pax Christi USA are gathering this weekend to attend the beatification of Franz Jaegerstaetter in Austria.

We often pray for the soldiers fighting now in Iraq and Afghanistan, but these prayers are generally limited their safe physical return. In reflecting on the life of Franz Jaegerstaetter perhaps we should also pray for more than just the well being of their bodies and minds. Engaging in war and matters of life and death in general are certain to have an effect on the soul. Not so much for those who believe in the war and choose to fight, but for those who do not believe in the war and choose to fight out of loyalty to country or to fellow soldier or even fear of punishment. we should pray that they will find the courage to resist and that we will find the courage to provide them with support and show them love and kindness.

Below is the prayer that Pax Christi Metro NY sent with the delegation

In these dark times, Pax Christi Metro New York is most grateful to all who have shone a light of hope on our world with the beatification of Franz Jaegerstaetter. Blessed Franz is a model of faith and courage, a patron of conscience and a man of peace. We pray that he bestow on all of us a share in his insurmountable faith and unwavering courage so that we, too, may be guided by unfaltering consciences to live as people of peace. Most especially we pray for the young who continue to be confronted with the harsh choice of serving God or serving country when the two are in discord that they will always have the strength to choose God.