Blessed Otto Neururer Research Paper
Francisco Vivas
Mrs. Kidwell
6th Religion
27 October 2014
Blessed Otto Neururer
Blessed Otto Neurerer, my saint, was born in Austria on March 25th 1882, in a family of peasants and had a very difficult life. His father died when he was still young and he saw his mother having to care for the 12 children and the farm; this caused her to have sad times. He studied to be a priest and in 1907, by the age of 25, was ordained in Bressanone, he was a Religion teacher in many places in Innsbruck. He became the pastor of Gotzens in 1932 and joined the Christian Social Movement; this caused problem with his higher superiors who had more conservative views; this affected him but never his love for priesthood.
In 1983 the Nazis occupied Tirol ( northern
part of Austria) persecuting the Church because they felt ideological the resistance from the faithful, which led many priests to be sent to prisons and concentration camps to be killed. During that time, Bl. Otto Neurerer moved by his strong sense of priestly responsibility, advised a girl not to marry a divorced man who was living a very bad and disorganized life. This man happened to be a very a personal friend of the highest Nazi authority in Tirol. Bl. Otto was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Dachau and later to Buchenwald.
My saint helped other prisoners by sharing his food with those who were weaker while suffering great tortures. During his stay at the concentration camp he was approached by a soldier who lied to him by asking him he wanted to be baptized, and even though he knew this could be a trap, he followed his sense of duty and did it, he was sent to a “bunker” which was a place of extreme punishment and was hanged upside down for 34 hours until he died, at the early age of 58.
Bl. Otto Neurerer was the first priest killed in a concentration camp. His ashes are in Gotzens Austria. He was beatified 89 years later by Pope John Paul II on November 24th November 1996. Blessed Otto Neururer pray for us!
Mrs. Kidwell
6th Religion
27 October 2014
Blessed Otto Neururer
Blessed Otto Neurerer, my saint, was born in Austria on March 25th 1882, in a family of peasants and had a very difficult life. His father died when he was still young and he saw his mother having to care for the 12 children and the farm; this caused her to have sad times. He studied to be a priest and in 1907, by the age of 25, was ordained in Bressanone, he was a Religion teacher in many places in Innsbruck. He became the pastor of Gotzens in 1932 and joined the Christian Social Movement; this caused problem with his higher superiors who had more conservative views; this affected him but never his love for priesthood.
In 1983 the Nazis occupied Tirol ( northern
part of Austria) persecuting the Church because they felt ideological the resistance from the faithful, which led many priests to be sent to prisons and concentration camps to be killed. During that time, Bl. Otto Neurerer moved by his strong sense of priestly responsibility, advised a girl not to marry a divorced man who was living a very bad and disorganized life. This man happened to be a very a personal friend of the highest Nazi authority in Tirol. Bl. Otto was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Dachau and later to Buchenwald.
My saint helped other prisoners by sharing his food with those who were weaker while suffering great tortures. During his stay at the concentration camp he was approached by a soldier who lied to him by asking him he wanted to be baptized, and even though he knew this could be a trap, he followed his sense of duty and did it, he was sent to a “bunker” which was a place of extreme punishment and was hanged upside down for 34 hours until he died, at the early age of 58.
Bl. Otto Neurerer was the first priest killed in a concentration camp. His ashes are in Gotzens Austria. He was beatified 89 years later by Pope John Paul II on November 24th November 1996. Blessed Otto Neururer pray for us!