Remembrance evening in Vienna: 80 years of the death of martyr Karl Leisner

Remembrance evening in Vienna: 80 years of the death of martyr Karl Leisner

On August 12th, a very special memorial evening will take place in Vienna's Augustinian Church to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of the Nazi martyr Karl Leisner. This event begins at 5:30 p.m. with the film screening “Karl Leisner – Christ with Passion”. From 6.30 p.m. Monika Kaiser-Haas and Dean P. Matthias Schlögl will shed light on Leisner's family environment and his remarkable personality. The evening concludes with a mass at 7:30 p.m. led by Abbot Maximilian Heim. The Catholic Church commemorates this impressive personality every year on August 12th together with other martyrs of the Nazi era, reports katholisch.at.

Karl Leisner was born on February 28, 1915 in Rees on the Lower Rhine and was a deacon who was arrested in 1939 because of his critical statements against the National Socialist regime. He was first taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later to the Dachau concentration camp, where a special event demonstrated his faith and courage. On December 17, 1944, at the age of 29, he was ordained a priest in the chapel of Block 26 by Bishop Gabriel Piguet - a unique priestly ordination that took place in a Nazi concentration camp. He was supported by the brave Josefa Mack, a nursing student who smuggled the consecration utensils into the camp, as katholisch.de reports.

A life full of witness to faith

Leisner's path was shaped by his faith and unshakable will. After he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Graf von Galen on March 25, 1939, he continually experienced the repression of the Nazi regime. His arrest in 1939 was because of his critical comments about the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. During his captivity, Leisner suffered from lung disease and spent a lot of time in the infirmary, further worsening his already tense situation.

He celebrated his first and only Holy Mass on December 26, 1944, immediately after his ordination. A memorable event marked by solidarity and hope, despite the despair that reigned around him. When Dachau was liberated on April 29, 1945, Karl Leisner was seriously ill and was taken to a pulmonary sanatorium in Krailling, where he died on August 12, 1945. A monument on the grounds of the forest sanatorium commemorates him.

Echoes and appreciation

The memory of Karl Leisner lives on. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Berlin in 1996, and his memorial falls on the day of his death. His grave is in Xanten Cathedral. In addition, monuments and chapels were built in his memory in various cities, including a bronze statue in Kleve and a chapel in Waldshut. The diocese of Münster, which opened the process for Leisner's canonization in 2007, provides information about Karl Leisner's entire life's work, who can be a role model of faith and fortitude.

The memorial evening in the Augustinian Church is therefore not only a look back at Leisner's life, but also an invitation to everyone to deal with the topics of faith and resistance, which are still important today.

More information can be found on the website of katholisch.at, katholisch.de and Wikipedia.