SAINT OF THE EUCHARIST

Karl was ordained a deacon on 25th March 1939 and was to be ordained a priest in a few months time. During the spring Karl was found to be suffering from tuberculosis and was sent by his doctor to recover at a nursing home in the Black Forest. It was there that he was arrested by the Gestapo because of a comment he made when he was told by a fellow-patient that there had been an attempt to assassinate Hitler. Karl was immediately imprisoned in Freiburg then taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp from which he was transferred to Dachauin December 1940.

Allotted a new name, "Prisoner 223562", the young deacon was sent to barrack number 28. Over 2,600 Catholic priests, many of whom were deported from Poland, as well as a large number of seminarians and Protestant ministers were kept in terrible conditions. Overcrowding, starvation, forced labor and disease took their toll. Karl's tuberculosis deteriorated and he was sent to the camp "infirmary" where up to 150 of the sick were left to die. For many of these fellow-sufferers Karl was a sign of hope in a world of despair. 

Still a deacon, Karl longed to be a priest. In September 1944 an unexpected event occurred when Bishop Piguet of Clermont-Ferrand in France was brought to Dachau, arrested in May for assisting people to escape from the Germans. Suddenly Karl's hope became a possibility. Thanks to the help of a young postulant from a nearby convent who acted as messenger, the necessary permission was obtained from Karl's own Bishop and preparations were made for Karl's Ordination to the priesthood by Bishop Piguet. 

Although the Ordination was to be kept secret it was fitting that the ceremony should be honored with the greatest possible dignity. Fellow prisoners made an Episcopal ring and crosier and Karl was ordained a priest on Gaudete Sunday 17th December 1944 in the chapel in Dachauconcentration camp.

 A number of Protestant ministers who had heard of the plan for Karl's Ordination had saved biscuits and coffee sent by relations to give him a secret reception after the Ordination Mass. The new priest, however, was now so gravely ill, he was only able to stand  with difficulty, and it was not until the Feast of Saint Stephen, 26th December that he could offer his first and only Mass.

Bl. Karl's state of health worsened in subsequent weeks. He was dying. The Liberation of Dachau by the Americans took place on 29th April 1945 and Karl was taken, with the help of the brave local parish priest to a nursing home at Planegg in a forest ten kilometres south-west of Munich. Here, at last was peace for Karl. The dreadful images of the concentration camp began to fade. Filled with gratitude for the kindness of the nursing nuns who cared for him, Karl wrote in his diary, "I am a free man! Alleluia! ... My human dignity has been given back. Flowers on the table. The Crucifix on the wall." He entrusted everything to Our Lady. Looking out at the forest Karl's heart rejoiced, "Here the body and soul can be restored. I can pray well again. In the silence God speaks even though I am exhausted."

His strength was leaving him but in his periods of consciousness Karl showed great interest in the people around him. To his mother he confided the truth, "I must tell you something, but don't be sad. I know that I am going to die soon, but I am happy". Conscious and in pain Karl received the Last Rites on  August 12 and died that same day. 

Karl Leisner was beatified on Sunday 23rd June 1996 in Berlin by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is  August 12.