Clement Augustus Count of Galen was born on the 16th of March, 1878, at
the castle of Dinklage (now a Benedictine nunnery) in the northern part
of the bishopric of Münster into a prolific catholic noble family.
His father was Count Ferdinand Heribert of Galen, his mother Elizabeth,
née Countess of Spee. His domestic education was marked by deep
piety and a strong sense of family. He absolved the Jesuits’ grammar-school
at Feldkirch and passed his final examination in 1896 at Vechta. After
having studied philosophy at Freiburg/Switzerland, he decided to become
priest. After his theological studies at Innsbruck/Austria and Münster
he was ordained on the 28th of May, 1904, by bishop Hermann Dingelstad
in the cathedral of Münster. In his first years as a priest, he was
Vicar of Münster Cathedral and accompanied his uncle, suffragan bishop
Maximilian Gereon Count of Galen, on his journeys to administer the Sacrament
of Holy Confirmation. In 1906, he began his pastoral work in Berlin as
chaplain at St. Matthew’s (Schöneberg), was curate at St. Clement’s
and since 1919 parson of St. Matthew’s. In the difficult times of the first
world war and during the disorders of the post-war times, he proved to
be a pious, unselfish priest and ardent pastor in restlessly standing up
for the catholics of the diaspora metropolis entrusted to him. In 1929,
bishop John Poggenburg appointed him as parson of the important church
of St. Lambert’s in Münster. In September 1933, Pope Pius XI
appointed him bishop of the diocese of Münster, vacant since January
1933. On the 28th of October, 1933, he was consecrated by Cardinal Schulte,
Archbishop of Cologne. True to his motto »Nec laudibus, nec timore«
- neither for the sake of praise nor of fear, he became the good shepherd
of his flock. Soon he opposed openly the anti-ecclasiastical efforts
of the Nazi government, for the first time in his Lenten pastoral letter
1934. With zeal and devotion he fulfilled the duties of his episcopal office
and experienced with great joy, especially on his Confirmation journeys,
his community with the faithful. Brotherly cooperation with the German
bishops and loyal devotion to the Holy Father in Rome proved his genuine
ecclasiastical sentiments. The suffering of the persecuted, particularly
that of his priests in the concentration camps, of the soldiers and many
others during the war, he experienced with deeply human compassion. When
the Nazi government, despite the state of war, continued to pursue its
anti-ecclasiastical policy, and even seized monasteries and began to systematically
kill the mentally disturbed, he felt obliged to raise his voice against
this; on the 13th and 20th of July and on the 3rd of August, 1941, he delivered
his three now famous sermons, which were spread world-wide. He was convinced
that the government, thus drastically criticized, would take action against
him and that he put his life at stake. But he was willing to undergo martyrdom
for God, Christ and his brothers and sisters. The war destroyed his bishop’s
town. More than for the loss of his house and his belongings, he suffered
for the destruction of his cathedral. In the hard months after the war,
too, the bishop stood like a rock amidst his priests and the faithful people.
On the 18th of February, 1946, Pope Pius XII.
created him a cardinal. On the 16th of March, the cardinal, having returned
from Rome, held his triumphal entrance in Münster. Soon he fell gravely
ill; an operation could not save his earthly life. On the 19th of March,
the feast of St. Joseph, his baptism’s day, he received the Holy Sacraments.
God called him to his eternal kingdom on the 22nd of March, 1946, by five
o’clock. Thousands prayed at his bier in the Erpho Chapel of St. Maurice’s
and attended his funeral procession and burial on the 28th of March in
the Ludgerus Chapel of the destroyed cathedral.
On the 10th of July, 1956, the priestly community «Confraternitas
Sacerdotum Bonæ Voluntatis» asked his successor to open the
process of beatification for Cardinal von Galen. The Most Reverend Michael
Keller, Bishop of Münster, complied with this request on the 22nd
of October, 1956. Since November 1959, the process is instituted at the
proper Roman congregation. Much prayer and work is still needed in order
to conclude it successfully.
Many answered prayers, attributed to the intercession of the servant
of God, have been reported. If you experienced his interceding help an
a similar way, please report this to the Vice-Postulator, canon Dr. Hellbernd,
48003 Münster, Germany.
Prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Clement Augustus Cardinal
Count of Galen
God, Thou hast cosen Thy faithful servant Clement Augustus as priest, and
appointed him in difficult times bishop of Münster. Thou gavest him
strength to intrepidly defend Thine honour, the faith of the Church and
the right to live of defenceless people and to be himself a shining example
of loyalty of faith. Humbly we beseech Thee: Let Thy servant share Thy
glory and grant us such grace that we soon may venerate him publicly as
a Saint of Heaven, so that we may praise Thee for his service’s sake. But
to all, who call unto Thee trusting in his intercession, grant welfare
of soul and body through Christ our Lord. Amen.
