Blessed Clemens August, Graf von Galen, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church

For those who say the Church is Nazi or that She supported fascism: Today, in Rome, one of the heroes of World War II was raised to the Altar. Clemens, Count (Graf) von Galen spoke out against the Nazis from the pulpit of his Cathedral of Muenster during the war. Not you will notice, from the safety of non-German lands as many "anti-Nazis" did (Willi Brandt comes to mind!).

Our Holy Father Benedict XVI, at the mid-day Angelus today:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning the beatification took place in St. Peter's Basilica of Clemens August von Galen, bishop of Muenster, intrepid cardinal opponent of the Nazi regime. Ordained a priest in 1904, for a long time he carried out his ministry in a Berlin parish and, in 1933, became the bishop of Muenster. In the name of God, he denounced the neo-pagan ideology of nationalism, defending the freedom of the Church and of human rights, gravely violated, protecting the Jews and the weakest people, which the regime considered as debris that had to be eliminated.

Well-known are the three famous sermons that intrepid pastor delivered in 1941. Pope Pius XII made him cardinal in February 1946 and, he died a month later, surrounded by the veneration of the faithful, who recognized in him a model of Christian courage. This is precisely the message, always timely, of Blessed von Galen: Faith cannot be reduced to a private sentiment, which, perhaps, is hidden when it becomes something uncomfortable; rather, it implies coherence and witness in the public realm in favor of man, justice and truth. I express my profound congratulations to the diocesan community of Muenster and to the Church in Germany, invoking upon all, through the intercession of the new blessed, abundant graces of the Lord.

On Blessed Clemens, first from CatholicForum.com:

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc9f.htm

Second, from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_August_Graf_von_Galen