Gordon Zahn (born Gordon Charles Paul Roach; August 7, 1918 – December 9, 2007) was an American sociologist,

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, professor, and author.

Early life

Born

out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

, Zahn took his stepfather's last name. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and served in a

Civilian Public Service The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative service, alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, wil ...

camp established by the

Catholic Worker Movement The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ". One of its guiding prin ...

. Zahn later transferred to Rosewood State Training School in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, a school for the developmentally disabled. He worked there as a conscientious objector until April 1946. His experiences at Rosewood were published in the

Catholic Worker ''The Catholic Worker'' is a newspaper based in New York City. It is published seven times a year by the flagship ''Catholic Worker'' community in New York City. It focuses on themes such as social justice, Catholic social teaching, pacifism, and ...

in the July and October 1946 issues, as a continuation of his attempt to reform Rosewood.

Education and career

In 1946 Zahn and a friend went to Saint John's University in

Collegeville, Minnesota Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitob ...

. There they met

Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...

, who hired them when he became a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. Zahn received a PhD from

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

and then a job at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. Cardinal

Augustin Bea Augustin Bea (28 May 1881 – 16 November 1968) was a German Jesuit priest, cardinal, and scholar at the Pontifical Gregorian University, specialising in biblical studies and biblical archaeology. He also served as the personal confessor of Pop ...

unsuccessfully pressured both Loyola and a German publisher to stop Zahn's book ''German Catholics and Hitler's Wars''. Zahn was later hired away by the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

Second Vatican Council

Zahn was important in the debate over warfare in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, specifically Schema 13. Through Richard Carbray and archbishop Thomas Roberts, Zahn was introduced to abbot Cuthbert Butler, OSB. Zahn gave talks on

Franz Jägerstätter Franz Jägerstätter, (also spelled Jaegerstaetter in English; born Franz Huber, 20 May 1907 – 9 August 1943) was an Austrians, Austrian farmer and conscientious objector during World War II. Jägerstätter was sentenced to death and executed ...

and wrote a speech for Butler, which he delivered to the Council. Gallagher implies this all led to Schema 13 supporting

s and denouncing weapons of mass destruction.

Authored works

Zahn was the author of several books and articles, often focusing on the topics of conscience and war. He wrote ''Military Chaplains'', based on interviews he did with RAF Chaplains who had served in the war. He then wrote ''German Catholics and Hitler's Wars'', in which he argued priests had aided Hitler by telling Germans it was their religious duty to fight. He later wrote ''In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jägerstätter'', about the Austrian farmer and conscientious objector who refused to swear an oath to Hitler and to fight in his army. Finding aid, ZHN Zahn first heard of Jägerstätter in 1956, while doing research for ''German Catholics and Hitler's Wars''.Powers, J.F., "In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jagerstatter, by Gordon Zahn", ''Commentary'', July 1, 1965
/ref> He was impressed and inspired by Jägerstätter's story and felt that it deserved a wider audience: “it was enough to convince me that this was indeed an amazing story, one deserving the widest possible attention".

Other work

He was also the co-founder of

Pax Christi Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity". History ...

USA. In 1968, he signed the "

Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...

" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In 1982 he received the Pax Christi award from St John's.In 1992, Zahn was honored at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston with the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his lifelong commitment to the ideals of non-violence and conscientious objection and for his work with the Second Vatican Council to make the Catholic Church a church of peace.

Books

* Zahn, Gordon. ''German Catholics and Hitler's Wars: A Study in Social Control'' 1964. * Zahn, Gordon. '' In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jägerstätter'' 1964. * Zahn, Gordon. ''What is Society?'' 1964 Hawthorn Books. * Zahn, Gordon. ''Another Part of the War: The Camp Simon Story'' 1979

References

External links

Center on Conscience and War Records at the University of Notre DameCatholic Peace Fellowship ObitTimes Online ObitMilwaukee Journal Sentinel Obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahn, Gordon C. 1918 births 2007 deaths Catholic University of America alumni Loyola University Chicago faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty American Christian pacifists American conscientious objectors American sociologists 20th-century American educators American Roman Catholics American tax resisters Neurological disease deaths in Wisconsin Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States Scientists from Milwaukee Roman Catholic activists Writers from Milwaukee Members of the Civilian Public Service 20th-century American non-fiction writers Catholic pacifists Roman Catholic scholars