Beatified German cardinal 'feared God more than man,' pope says

Published: 2005-10-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- German Cardinal Clemens von Galen of Munster, an outspoken critic of Adolf Hitler's regime, "feared God more than man," Pope Benedict XVI said moments after the cardinal was beatified. "All of us, but especially we Germans, are grateful that God gave us this great witness of faith who shined the light of the truth in dark times and demonstrated the courage to resist tyranny," the pope told German pilgrims Oct. 9. Cardinal von Galen, who served as bishop of Munster from 1933 until his death in 1946, was beatified in St. Peter's Basilica during a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes. At the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict entered the basilica, praying before the cardinal's relics and greeting the thousands of pilgrims who participated in the beatification of the cardinal, known as the "Lion of Munster" for his defense of the church under Nazism and his denunciations of Hitler's racial policies and of the regime's program of medical experimentation on the sick and handicapped.

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