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A Time for Remembering Martyrs & Saints |
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Written by Tobias Winright
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Monday, 29 October 2007 |
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On October 26th Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian farmer, was beatified by the Catholic Church. In 1943 he was beheaded by the Nazis for refusing to bear arms in Hitler's military. Just war reasoning led this Catholic layman to make this conscientious decision. He believed that Hitler's army was fighting an unjust war. Thus Jagerstatter is an important example to Christians who adhere to the just war tradition, and his death demonstrates that just war, like pacifism, can be at odds with empire.
It is therefore fitting that he has officially been made a saint within days of the feast (October 30) of the of the soldier-martyr Marcellus, a Centurion who was beheaded by the Romans in 298 C.E. for refusing to continue to serve in Caesar's army. I wrote a piece for Sojourners in 2003 reflecting on his martyrdom and the war in Iraq, which is still as timely as then. |
