 the blessed clemens august graf von galen (march 16, 1878 â march 22, 1946) was a german count, bishop of mÃ¼nster, and cardinal of the roman catholic church. he was a german nationalist and aristocrat. during world war two, galen led catholic protest against nazi euthanasia and denounced gestapo lawlessness and the persecution of the church. he was appointed as cardinal by pope pius xii in 1946. he was beatified by the german pope benedict xvi, in 2005. born into a venerable noble family, von galen received part of his education in austria from the jesuits at the stella matutina school in the border town of feldkirch, on the austrian border with switzerland and liechtenstein. after his ordination he worked in berlin at saint matthias, where he became a close friend of nuncio eugenio pacelli, later to be pope pius xii. he disliked intensely the liberal values of the weimar republic and was against individualism, socialism, and democracy. having served in berlin parishes in years 1906â1929, he became the pastor of mÃ¼nster's st. lamberti church, where he was noted for his political conservatism. a staunch german patriot, he judged that the treaty of versailles was unjust and that bolshevism was a threat to germany and the church. he believed the dolchstosslegende explained the german army's defeat in 1918 â that germany had been destroyed by defeatist elements on the home front. he expressed his opposition to modernity in his book die pest des laizismus und ihre erscheinungsformen [the plague of laicism and its forms of expression] (1932).catholic theologians in nazi germany, robert a. krieg, p. 74, continuum 2004 while remaining a staunch nationalist, and supporting some of the "patriotic" aims of the national socialist government, galen began to criticize hitler's movement in 1934. he condemned the nazi wors
1878_births 1946_deaths 20th-century_Roman_Catholic_bishops 20th-century_venerated_Christians Beatifications_by_Pope_Benedict_XVI Bishops_of_MA 1/4 nster Cardinals_created_by_Pope_Pius_XII Catholic_saints_and_blesseds_of_the_Nazi_era Counts_of_Germany German_anti-communists German_beatified_people German_cardinals Nazi_persecution_of_the_Catholic_Church People_from_Vechta_(district) Roman_Catholics_in_the_German_Resistance University_of_Fribourg_alumni