Franz Jagerstatter Service in Westminster Cathedral Crypt

Credit: Pax Christi England and Wales

This year's service to commemorate the life and witness of Franz Jagerstatter will take place in the crypt of Westminster Cathedral at 18.30pm on Tuesday 9 August. It has been organised by members of Pax Christi England and Wales. Following the service people may wish to join the interfaith walk to the London Peace Pagoda for the Nagasaki Day memorial.

Pax Christi was delighted to hear Pope Francis offer the witness of Franz to young people meeting in Prague in early July. He challenged them to rebel against the norm of accepting war and violence, and to be guided by conscience, as Franz was. Acknowledging the tragedy of war, including Ukraine, Pope Francis said:

"Now we must all commit ourselves to putting an end to this dreadful war, where, as usual, a few powerful people decide and send thousands of young people to fight and die. In cases like this, it is legitimate to rebel!

"I would like to invite you to get to know the extraordinary figure of a young objector, a young European with 'a broad outlook', who fought against Nazism during the Second World War. His name was Franz Jagerstatter, and he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. Franz was a young Austrian who, because of his Catholic faith, made a conscientious objection to the injunction to swear allegiance to Hitler and to go to war...Despite cajoling and torture, Franz preferred to be killed than to kill. He considered the war totally unjustified. If all the young men called to arms had done as he did, Hitler would not have been able to carry out his diabolical plans. To triumph, evil needs accomplices.

"Franz Jagerstatter was executed in the same prison where his contemporary Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German Lutheran theologian and anti-Nazi, was also imprisoned and met the same tragic end."

This is the link to the full talk at: www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-07/message-pope-francis-european-union-youth-conference-prague.html

Resources on the life and influence of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter are available at: https://paxchristi.org.uk/resources/peace-people-2/blessed-franz-jagerstatter/