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Blessed Karl Leisner

Young German deacon secretly ordained priest at Dachau, who died after liberation

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Priest, Martyr
Life
1915 – 1945
Era
20th century
Feast
12 August
Countries
Germany
Germany

Life story

Karl Leisner was born on 28 February 1915 in Rees, Germany, and grew up in Kleve. From 1934 he studied philosophy and theology, and Bishop Clemens August von Galen of Münster made him leader of the diocese's youth groups while the Nazis tried to take over youth organisations. Bishop von Galen ordained him a deacon on 25 March 1939.

Soon after, he contracted tuberculosis and went to a sanatorium in St Blasien. On 9 November 1939 (one source says the 8th) the Gestapo arrested him after another patient reported that he had regretted the failure of the attempt on Hitler's life. He was held in Freiburg and Mannheim, then at Sachsenhausen, and in December 1940 was transferred to Dachau.

At Dachau a French bishop who was also imprisoned, Gabriel Piguet, secretly ordained him a priest on 17 December 1944. Fellow prisoners made vestments for the ceremony. Leisner was too weak to say more than one Mass, which he celebrated on 26 December 1944 in the camp's barracks chapel.

American troops liberated Dachau on 29 April 1945. Leisner was already gravely ill and died of tuberculosis on 12 August 1945 at a sanatorium in Planegg near Munich, aged 30. His remains were moved to the martyrs' crypt of Xanten cathedral in 1966. Pope John Paul II beatified him on 23 June 1996 in Berlin. His feast is 12 August.

Works and witness

  • Diocesan youth leader in Münster under Bishop von Galen
  • Ordained deacon on 25 March 1939
  • Arrested by the Gestapo in November 1939; sent to Dachau in December 1940
  • Secretly ordained priest in Dachau on 17 December 1944
  • Beatified on 23 June 1996 in Berlin

Saints from the same country

Saint Ambrose, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Saint Bruno of Cologne

References

  • Encyclopedia.com, Leisner, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Maria, Bl.
  • Wikipedia, Karl Leisner (youth leader role, Dachau transfer and beatification)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.