Kurt Peter Gumpel (15 November 1923 – 12 October 2022) was a German Jesuit

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and Church historian. A professor emeritus of the Gregorian University in Rome, he was the relator in Pope Pius XII's cause for

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

Biography

Gumpel was born in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, as a member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

, although he later changed his last name. Under the National-Socialist regime, he and several members of his family were threatened by

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

because of their anti-Nazi views, and he had to flee from

twice, first to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and then to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

he went underground and helped

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

to flee. Gumpel was involved in the beatification of

Catherine McAuley Catherine McAuley, RSM (29 September 1778 – 11 November 1841) was an Irish Catholic religious sister who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831.Austin, Mary Stanislas"Sisters of Mercy."''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Ap ...

. Angela Bolster, an Irish nun and McAuley expert, was appointed in 1979 as one of the first women to be a vice- postulator as Vatican rules were relaxed to allow this to happen. It was under the guidance of Father Gumpel, that she prepared work that was inspected by historians and theologians. In later times, Gumpel expressed regret that well known Catholic personalities and groups questioned the wisdom of promoting the cause of Pope Pius XII's beatification. For different reasons, Jewish groups too were opposed to the pope's beatification. Gumpel died in Rome on 12 October 2022, at the age of 98.

References

External links

Pius XII. und die Juden (radio-interview in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumpel, Peter 1923 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German historians 20th-century German Jesuits Pontifical Gregorian University faculty Historians of the Catholic Church German male non-fiction writers German expatriates in Italy People who emigrated to escape Nazism Clergy from Hanover

Biography

See also

References

External links