Dutch priest who opposed Nazis on road to sainthood

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Source: Vatican News

The Dutch Carmelite priest, theologian, journalist, and author, Titus Brandsma who was killed "in hatred of the faith" in Dachau concentration camp in 1942, came a step closer to sainthood today, as Pope Francis authorised the recognition of a miracle attributed to him. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, was asked to to promulgate a series of Decrees today, including his case.

Born in 1881, Fr Titus forcefully opposed and spoke out against anti-Jewish laws the Nazis were passing in Germany before World War II. He was arrested when Germany invaded the Netherlands and told that he would be allowed to live a quiet life in a monastery if he would announce that Catholic newspapers should publish Nazi propaganda. Titus refused and died after being a lethal injection in Dachau concentration camp on 26 July 1942. Pope Saint John Paul II declared Titus Blessed in 1985, saying that he "answered hate with love."

The other decrees today named: Henri Planchat, Ladislas Radigue, and three companions, priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, killed "in hatred of the faith" on 26 May 1871 during the insurrection of the Paris Commune. Their martyrdom has been recognised.

Blessed Sister Maria of Jesus, born Carolina Santocanale, founder of the Capuchin Sisters of Immaculate Mary of Lourdes. The order continues to work with the sick, poor, disabled, and abandoned. She was beatified by Pope Francis on 12 June 2016. A miracle attributed to her has been recognised.

The decrees also recognise the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Antonio Bello, Bishop of the Italian town of Molfetta, who died in 1993; the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Giorgio Guzzetta, an Italian priest belonging to the Confederation of the Oratory of Saint Filippo Neri; the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Natalina Bonardi, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St Mary of Loreto; the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Maria Dositea Bottani, Superior General of the Congregation of the Ursulines of Gandino; the Servant of God Odette Vidal Cardoso, a nine-year-old girl, with deep devotion, who died in Brazil on 25 November 1939.