Blessed Karl Leisner
Blessed Karl Leisner (born February 28, 1915 AD in Rees, Germany; died August 12, 1945 AD in Planegg, near Munich, Germany) was a German Catholic priest of the Diocese of Münster who was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp under the Nazi regime, where he was secretly ordained a priest. He died shortly after the liberation of the camp from tuberculosis contracted in captivity. He is honored as a martyr and confessor of the faith. His feast day is August 12.
A leader of Catholic youth, Karl Leisner was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau. There, in December 1944, a fellow prisoner, the exiled French Bishop Gabriel Piguet, ordained him a priest in secret—the only priestly ordination ever to take place in a concentration camp. He was able to celebrate Mass only once. He was beatified in 1996.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Karl Leisner
| Blessed Karl Leisner | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | August 12 |
| Profession | Priest; leader of Catholic youth; prisoner of Dachau |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Diocese of Münster; martyrs and confessors under Nazism |
| Patronage | Catholic youth; the sick; those imprisoned for the faith; Germany |
| Attributes | Priestly vestments; concentration camp uniform; chalice; barbed wire |
| Birthplace | Rees, Germany |
| Death Place | Planegg, near Munich, Germany |
| Cause of Death | Died of tuberculosis contracted in the Dachau concentration camp under the Nazi regime; secretly ordained a priest in the camp; honored as a martyr and confessor |
| Primary Shrine | Xanten Cathedral, Germany |
Biography
Karl Leisner was born on February 28, 1915, at Rees in the Rhineland of Germany, and grew up at Kleve. As a young man he became a dedicated leader of Catholic youth in the Diocese of Münster, guiding groups of boys and young men in faith and community life at a time when the Nazi regime was seeking to draw all German youth into its own organizations and to suppress the Church's influence.
He entered the seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1939. His outspoken Catholic convictions and his youth work made him suspect to the regime. Falling ill with tuberculosis, he was in a sanatorium when, after a private remark critical of Hitler was reported, he was arrested by the Gestapo in 1939. After imprisonment he was sent, in 1941, to the Dachau concentration camp, where many priests were held.
Leisner longed to complete his path to the priesthood, but only a bishop could ordain him. In an extraordinary providence, the French Bishop Gabriel Piguet of Clermont was also imprisoned at Dachau. In secret, with vestments and materials smuggled into the camp, Bishop Piguet ordained Karl Leisner a priest on December 17, 1944—the only ordination ever carried out in a concentration camp. Weak with illness, the new priest was able to celebrate Holy Mass only once, on December 26, 1944.
When Dachau was liberated in 1945, Leisner was gravely ill. He was taken to a sanatorium at Planegg near Munich, where he died on August 12, 1945, of the tuberculosis aggravated by his imprisonment. In his last diary entry he wrote a prayer of blessing even for his enemies.
Karl Leisner was beatified on June 23, 1996, by Pope John Paul II in Berlin, together with the priest and martyr Bernhard Lichtenberg. His feast is kept on August 12.
Significant events
- 1915 — Born at Rees on February 28.
- Becomes a leader of Catholic youth in the Diocese of Münster.
- 1939 — Ordained a deacon; arrested by the Gestapo.
- 1941 — Sent to the Dachau concentration camp.
- December 17, 1944 — Secretly ordained a priest by Bishop Gabriel Piguet at Dachau.
- December 26, 1944 — Celebrates his only Mass.
- 1945 — Dies at Planegg on August 12, after the liberation of Dachau.
- 1996 — Beatified by Pope John Paul II.
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Feast day
August 12
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