Josef Mayr-Nusser (27 December 1910 – 24 February 1945) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

who served as the President of the Saint Vincent de Paul Conference of the

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third ...

division as well as a member of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, I ...

. He is known best for refusing to recite the

Hitler oath The Hitler Oath (German: or Führer Oath)—also referred in English as the Soldier's Oath—refers to the oaths of allegiance sworn by the officers and soldiers of the German Armed Forces and civil servants of Nazi Germany between the years 1 ...

after he was drafted as a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

soldier and was sentenced to death at the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is ...

. He died en route to the camp in 1945. He is known as the "Martyr of the First Commandment". Mayr-Nusser was hailed for living his life according to the tenets of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

and of

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, Congregation of the Mission, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan people, Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poverty, poor. In 1622 Vi ...

Life

Gedenktafel Lichtenstern 1-7 (Ritten) Josef Mayr-Nusser4

Josef Mayr-Nusser was born on 27 December 1910 in

into a rural

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- Italian household. He grew up on a farm in which his devout parents instilled in him

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

values along with his elder brother Jakob, who enrolled in a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

to become a

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 particu ...

. Mayr-Nusser became fascinated with the life and works of Frederic Ozanam and with the life of

. To that end, in an attempt to emulate the pair and to help the poor in the spirit of charity, he joined the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

at the age of 22 and became its elected president in 1937. Mayr-Nusser served as the president of the society in its Bolzano division and in that capacity constantly visited the poor, providing them both material and spiritual assistance, in the process becoming a vocal anti-poverty advocate. In a 1938 letter to members, Mayr-Nusser said: "When a brother is going to visit a poor family, you should do everything to organize your time so you can spend at least 10–15 minutes to visit people". In an attempt to deepen his understanding of faith, he studied the letters of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

and the writings of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

. Mayr-Nusser's friends nicknamed him "Pepi" in his adolescence and early adulthood. In 1934, he became the head of

in the Diocese of Trent, accepting the invitation of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fr ...

to broaden his lay activities. In addition to these posts that he filled, Mayr-Nusser secretly became a member of the anti-Nazi movement "Andreas Hofer Bund" in 1939. On 26 May 1942 he married Hildegard Straub (1907–1998) and his son Alberto was born in 1943. As part of Nazi conscription during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he was enrolled in the SS unit in 1944 which forced him to leave his wife and newborn son for training in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

; he was sent off on 7 September 1944. Sometime during the war, his father was killed on the frontlines. Franz Treibenreif (a comrade and friend) said of him on what became a fateful 4 October 1944: "Josef was pensive and worried. Unexpectedly, he raised his hand: 'Sir Major-General', he said with a strong voice, 'I cannot take an oath to Hitler in the name of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. I cannot do it because my faith and conscience do not allow it'". Mayr-Nusser's friends attempted to convince him to recant or to cease from the explosive statement, but he eschewed their offers in order to stand up for his beliefs. Mayr-Nusser believed ardently that

National Socialism 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 Na ...

could not be reconciled in any way with the values of Christian ethics and believed that the ideology ran counter to the divine law of God. As a result of this Mayr-Nusser was jailed and later transferred to Danzig where he was prosecuted. While he was awaiting trial, Mayer-Nusser took to chopping wood and peeling potatoes, and was given the right to

pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...

during his time in captivity. From prison Mayr-Nusser sent a range of letters to his wife and said of his actions: "You would not be my wife if you expected something different from me". In February 1945 he was sentenced to death for treason and was ordered to be shot by a firing squad at the

. However he fell ill with

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complication ...

, and en route via train to Dachau with approximately 40 others being sent to the camp, died on the morning of 24 February 1945. When his corpse was discovered, he was found with a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

and

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or ...

on his person. Mayr-Nusser's remains were transferred to the Lichtenstern chapel on the

Ritten Ritten (; it, Renon ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Territory The community is named after the high plateau, elevation , the Ritten or the Renon, on which most of the villages are located. The plateau forms ...

in 1958.

Legacy

Several places are named after him as a tribute to his life and sacrifice. On 19 March 2017 on the feast of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis described Mayr-Nusser as "a model for the lay faithful, especially for fathers, who we remember with great affection today."

Beatification

Gedenktafel Lichtenstern 1-7 (Ritten) Josef Mayr-Nusser

The beatification process was set to commence in Bolzano after rights for the cause transferred from

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

to Bolzano on 23 February 1991. However, the cause did not receive the formal approval from the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

until 30 September 2005 at which point he was granted the title Servant of God and the diocesan process could begin. The diocesan process spanned from 24 February 2006 until 19 March 2007 when all documents collated were sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for further inspection. The decree of validity on the process was granted several years later on 23 April 2010 and allowed for the postulation to draft the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

on his martyrdom. The Positio was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in January 2015.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

approved the beatification on 8 July 2016 and he was beatified in Bolzano on 18 March 2017 with Cardinal

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, S.D.B. (born 8 June 1938) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 2018. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of th ...

presiding over the celebration on the pope's behalf. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

of the cause is Carlo Calloni. The first postulator assigned was Josef Innerhofer. Historians criticized the fact that the political dimension of Mayr-Nusser's resistance to the Nazi regime had been left out of the process of beatification, since this question also touched on the failure of the Church itself towards both the fascist and the nazi regime.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayr-Nusser, Josef 1910 births 1945 deaths 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Christian martyrs Italian anti-poverty advocates Italian prisoners sentenced to death Beatifications by Pope Francis Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany Italian anti-fascists Italian civilians killed in World War II Religious leaders from Bolzano Roman Catholic activists Italian Servants of God Italian people of German descent Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era People condemned by Nazi courts Italian people who died in Dachau concentration camp