Feast of Bd Franz Jagerstatter, who was beheaded by the Nazis in 1943 for refusing to take a military oath of loyalty to Hitler. He was the sole Austrian Catholic to take this stand. A video based on my text: youtube.com/watch?v=nMtrwf
Conversation
When people ask me who is my "favorite" saint, I often cite Franz. His witness recalls the early martyrs who were charged with blasphemy for refusing to worship the emperor and the gods of Rome. But what do you do when your own priest and bishop urge you to take that oath?
Franz acted without expectation that his witness would change history or even be remembered by anyone at all. It was almost forgotten. But once you know his story, you can't "unknow" it. His writings published by . His story in Terrence Malick's film "A Hidden Life."
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