Joseph Kugler, OH (15 January 1867 - 10 June 1946) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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professed religious of the

Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as OH), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian language, Italian they are also known commonly ...

. Kugler entered the congregation in 1893 and assumed his religious name ''Eustachius'' upon admittance into the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

. Kugler came into direct contact with the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

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 ...

and came to their attention due to being an outspoken critic of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime. He also opposed their approval of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

of the ill and old and their anti-Christian policies. The rite of beatification for the late religious was celebrated in the Regensburg Cathedral on 4 October 2009 with Archbishop

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, Salesians of Don Bosco, S.D.B. (8 June 1938 – 31 December 2024) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 20 ...

presiding over the beatification on the behalf of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

Life

Joseph Kugler was born on 15 January 1867 in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

as the son of a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. He had at least one sister and one brother. His father died in 1874 and his mother died sometime in the 1880s. In 1880 he began to work as an apprentice

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

. However he became injured in an accident and was forced to stop working following an accident where he fell from a scaffold and injured his leg - the issues with his leg transcended to his foot and remained with him throughout his life resulting in a slight limp. In 1884 he returned home and moved in with his sister who was married to a blacksmith and he later began working once again but this time with his brother. Kugler joined the

- on 11 January 1893 - but faced initial resistance in entering due to the injuries he had sustained in the past which were believed would impede his admission. The provincial later relented and allowed for Kugler to commence his time in the

; Kugler assumed the religious name of "Eustachius" in 1893. He made his profession in 1898. He made a particular focal point of his life as a religious to aid handicapped and disabled people and his appointment as the provincial of the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n section of the congregation - from 1905 until 1925 - allowed him to care for more people since he managed fifteen hospitals the order managed. He even constructed a hospital - from 1927 until 1930 - that the order ran as part of his pastoral mission. During

he opposed

and the

regime and was quite vocal in his criticism and denunciation of the latter's policies regarding

of both the old and the sick. This bought him into unwanted contact with the

who interrogated Kugler several times due to this opposition. Kugler died in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

due to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on 10 June 1946.

Beatification

The beatification process opened in Regensburg in an informative process that commenced on 1 March 1963 and concluded its business on 14 May 1965. On 1 March 1963 he was declared a

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

under

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

after his cause received official approval from the

Congregation of Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by ''Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it was divided into two separate congregations by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congregation was cha ...

. Theologians also took charge of his writings and on 1 April 1969 declared them to be of orthodox nature. A second process was opened on 4 March 1982 and concluded on 12 June 1984. 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, passi ...

validated the process in

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on 10 April 1992. The C.C.S. received the

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

dossier in 1992 and theologians approved the cause on 8 June 2004 while the C.C.S. themselves approved the cause on 1 February 2005.

proclaimed him to be

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 19 December 2005 after recognizing his

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

. The process for investigating a miracle needed for his beatification spanned from 22 January 2004 until its closure on 23 July 2004. The C.C.S. validated it on 13 May 2005 while a medical board voiced approval to the miracle on 14 June 2007. Theologians approved it on 30 October 2007 and the C.C.S. did so as well on 2 December 2008 before taking it to the pope for his approval. The pontiff approved the miracle on 19 January 2009. The beatification was celebrated in the Regensburg Cathedral on 4 October 2009. Benedict XVI delegated Archbishop

to preside over the celebration on his behalf. The

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

for the cause is Elia Tripaldi.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleEustachius Kugler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kugler, Joseph 1867 births 1946 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God Order Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany Catholic saints and blesseds of the Nazi era Deaths from cancer in Germany 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests German beatified people People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI