Honoring the Lion of Münster

Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen was the Bishop of Münster in Nazi Germany. He was elected in 1933. From the start he fought the Nazi totalitarian regime. Among the things he attacked was their racial ideologies. In addition he spoke out loud & clear against their eugenic policies, Gestapo tactics forced sterilizations & concentration camps. 4 sermons in 1941 on these subjects led Nazi official Walter Tiessler to write a letter to Martin Bormann asking that the Bishop be executed. Copies of those 4 sermons were reproduced & distributed throughout Gemany as well as to German soldiers on both the Western & Eastern Front. 1 copy was known to have reached a young Karol Wojtyla in Krakow.

Galen's euthenasia sermon was so effective that the Nazi euthenasia program known as Aktion T4 was forced to go underground. Fearing backlash because of his popularity, the official Nazi stand was to wait until the end of the war to arrest him. Clearly Bormann, Göbbels, & the others expected the Nazis to win. But they didn't. After the war he spoke out just as loudly against British injustices towards the Germans.

At Christmas of it was announced that he was 1 of 3 German Bishops to be made a Cardinal by Pope Pius XII. In February of 1946 he travelled to the vatican to receive his red hat. A few days after his return from Rome he died in the St. Franziskus Hospital of Münster due to an appendix infection. His cause was openned by Bishop Michael Keller in 1956. He was beatified by Papa Benedetto on 9 October 2005.

His actions earned him the nickname theLion of Münster. He bold stand against the anti-life policies of Nazi Germany has also made him a symbol for many in the Pro-life movement (including me) of what proper leadership by Bishops should be in speaking out against abortion. (Note: Graf is the German equivalent of Count.)

Pro-life march in Munster, Germany in remembrance of Bishop Count von Galen

by Michael van der Mast
MUNSTER, Germany, March 14, 2011(LifeSiteNews.com) - Two hundred marchers carrying white crosses walked through the ancient city of Munster, Germany this past Saturday after kneeling in prayer in front of pro-abortion opponents blocking their path.

Kneeling in prayer waiting for police to clear the way

The March, organized by Euro Pro-life, was held in remembrance of Bishop Count von Galen, who in his sermons strongly argued against the mercy killing of persons not worthy to live in Nazi Germany.
March leader Wolfgang Herring was prevented from starting the March at the scheduled time. Opponents blocked the March route, strongly advocating their gay and lesbian life style while throwing condoms at the marchers. Police kept both groups separated throughout the march.
While they were waiting for police to clear the way, march participants were asked to kneel and pray for the abolition of abortion. Each day in Germany the lives of 1000 unborn children are taken through abortions up to the 12th week.

At the Bishop von Galen monument

The silent prayer Virgil was watched by police whose efforts to clear a path for the marchers in a peaceful way eventually succeeded. News reports revealed that the identity of 80 of the protesters was known to the police. They may face chargers of obstructing a legal event.
The March ended around the statue of Bishop Count von Galen, where Herring addressed the participants and thanked the police for their efforts. The organizer of Dutch Cry for Life march welcomed the participants to the second March for Life in Brussels, Belgium which is scheduled for Sunday March 27, 2011.
Read one of Bishop von Galen’s sermons and Nazi correspondence in response to it.
See also the website of Euro Pro-Life which promotes the marches with white crosses.

You can also read all 4 of his sermons here (pdf).