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Pax Christi USA at the Beatification of Franz Jägerstätter

Posted by on 10/09/07 • Categorized as Highlights

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Franz JägerstätterGordon Zahn, co-founder of Pax Christi USA, is the person most responsible for popularizing the story of Franz Jägerstätter within the Roman Catholic Church. Jägerstätter was a peasant-farmer in Austria who refused to fight in Hitler’s army and was beheaded for his resistance in 1943. This October, he will be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, founding bishop-president of Pax Christi USA, will be attending the beatification and has invited Pax Christi members to join him on this pilgrimage. Information on the beatification and on Franz Jägerstätter is listed below.

Events Around The Beatification Of Franz Jägerstätter

  • Thursday, October 25, at 7:00pm – Informal meeting of Pax Christi International friends at the Pax Christi Austria office in Linz, address is MENGERSTRASSE 23.
  • Friday, October 26, at 10:00am – Beatification at the Cathedral. After the ceremony, a walk through the town is planned. You will pass by the prison where Franz was held before he was sent to Berlin. People will then get on the streetcar, ride up to a place overlooking the Danube and the city. Lunch is planned there.
  • Friday, October 26, at 5:00pm – Opera about Franz (in 10 scenes)

The above events will take place in the city of Linz. Meinrad Schneckenleithner from Pax Christi Austria has arranged for 30 rooms where visitors can stay. These are at the Student Summer Hotel. They have 1 and 2 bedrooms (single beds most probably). Tell them you are a Pax Christi member. You will get a good price. Here is how to reach the hotel: call 011-43-7322457376 (more numbers not a problem) or: email to hotel@studentenwerk.at.

  • Saturday, October 27, 8:00pm – Midnight Vespers service at the Church in Ostermiething, neighbor village to St. Radegund, Franz’s home village
  • Sunday, October 28, 10:00am – Mass in Honor of Franz at his village Church in St. Radegund

These last two events will be at least a 2 1/2 hour drive or train ride from Linz. People wishing to take part in these events may call Sigrid Dale (Pax Christi member in Michigan) at 586-751-1199. She will try to make arrangements for overnight stays close by. A car would still be needed. For any of the events, she suggests people act soon as it is expected that there will be a great demand for the rooms in Linz, as people are coming from many places in Europe.

Resources from Pax Christi USA on Franz Jägerstätter