A Vocation Even in a Time of Persecution

Some years ago my wife and I visited Dachau, the concentration camp in southern Germany. It was a very emotional experience to realize the cruelty and death that was perpetrated here against people who opposed the Nazi ideology. Mostly these were people of faith, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. A large portion of the inmates were clergy of which the Catholic priests, including one deacon and one bishop, filled three of the huge barracks.

There is a seven part video on You Tube entitled "The Church against Hitler" which has non-English narration and audio but has English subtitles. Here is the chapter on the ordination of Deacon Karl Leisner to the priesthood in the camp. He celebrate his first Mass in the camp on December 26, 1944, the feast of St Stephen the deacon who was the first Christian martyr. American troops liberate the camp just four months later. Watch the video for the rest of the story.

Thanks to Deacon Greg for the link.

To go to the Google list of all seven videos in the series click here.