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 Nazis and German Catholics and Lutherans
By Frank Kaufmann, Friday, April 22, 2011
New York- Religious leaders must transcend those challengesthat threaten to erode our commitment and obligation to turn ourworld from conflict and horror.
Religion News Service
on April 19threports an importantdevelopmentin Christian, ecumenical relations. The facts are this: Four German clergy, 3 Catholic priests and oneLutheran minister were martyred ("beheaded in quicksuccession") on Nov. 10, 1943 by the Nazi regime. The Vaticanplans to beatify the priests, but not the Lutheran. (Beatificationisa recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person'sentrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name (intercession of saints). Beatification is thethird of the four steps in thecanonization process. A person who is beatified isgiven the title "Blessed".) The article is fair, clear, and well written. The
RNS
article notes that this Nazi horror turned out to be seminal to the birthand healthy growth of Catholic-Lutheran ecumenism in Germany. The Vatican plan"is testing that ecumenical spirit, and has some religious leaders worried that theevent could drive a wedge between the two communities."Sometimes it is difficult for secular or laypeople to grasp the significance orurgency of complicated, ecumenical challenges. Still however, the importance of such matters should not be overlooked. The Vatican plan for beatification on June25 is now seen as threatening ecumenical relations. But this challenge should beseen as an opportunity. It should not be missed by the Christian leaders andcommunities in Germany affected by this turn of events.It is the strong view of this writer that ecumenical leaders in Germany wouldshame the honor of these fallen heroes should they allow the ecumenicaladvances they have achieved to date to be undermined at this juncture. GermanCatholic and Lutheran leaders and believers should not only to rise above thechallenges presented by the pending June 25 ceremony, but to the contraryshould seize this challenge as an opportunity to advance the cause of religiousharmony and collaboration even further.While the slow pace of Christian ecumenism might cause people in our Twitterpaced world to yawn, even people with little or no interest in religion (perhaps
Frank Kaufmann 04/22/11 page 1 of 3
 
Lutheran Pastor,Karl Christian
 
even hostile to religion) still recognize the pressing need for religions to overcometheir differences, and stop contributing to a world drowned in conflict. Just today
Christian Science Monitor 
 reportsthat scores have been killed in Muslim-Christianviolence after this weekend's relatively clean presidential election“Protests soon turned deadly, with churches, mosques, homes, andbusinesses set ablaze in the northern cities of Kaduna and Kano. InKaduna on Tuesday, Christian neighborhoods were targeted, and knownsupporters of Mr. Jonathan's ruling People's Democratic Party wereburned alive and hacked with machetes.But what does this barbarism have to do with peaceful Germany, and differencesbetween two established Christian denominations so slim that it would be hard toslip an envelope between them?Well, not too long ago this paper thin difference fueled the decimation of all of Europe ina war that lasted 3 decades, more than a generation "primarily on theterritory of modern Germany. Virtually all of the major European powers wereinvolved, and the economy of each was based on fighting the war. Civilianpopulations were devastated. Estimates of civilian casualties are approximately25-30%, with deaths due to a combination of armed conflict, famine, anddisease." Yes. This was not a splinter, Islamist, terrorist gang in northern Nigeria. Itwas Lutherans and Catholics in Germany.How grand then is the contrast to these accounts of devastating innocent life andprecious treasure shown by four, noble clergymen who walked the path of ultimate self-sacrifice for righteousness sake in the footsteps of their Lord.Catholic priests Johannes Prassek, Hermann Lange, and Eduard Mueller, andLutheran pastor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, stood, spoke, walked, and eventuallyoffered their very lives like Jesus, without fear nor regret for the sake of theirfellows, that evil be overcome. These men, servants of Christ all, remindedGermans then, and have continued to do so ever since, that following Jesus is agreater good than all the obstinacy that freezes itself into the very denominationsand divisions feared and decried by Jesus in his dying hour (John 17:21).It should be known that these challenges faced by these Catholics and Lutheran,ecumenical activists are difficult, and that the Vatican beatification plan thatdivides these people of one heart does not make their work any more easy. Theissues they face should not be seen simplistically, nor dismissed as archaic orpasse. But despite the complexity, by whatever means and by all means, Catholicand Lutheran leaders and believers must continue to honor our four, saintly, fallenbrothers in Christ who together as one, revealed the power of Christ in our time. The Vatican must, before June 25, find all possible ways within the bounds of Canon Law to honor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink as fully and as gloriously as possible.Lutherans in the mean time should attend
en masse
if allowed (they should beunconditionally and unequivocally invited) to attend the ceremony for the
Frank Kaufmann 04/22/11 page 2 of 3
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