Blessed Karl Leisner (1915-1945)

Born in Rees, Germany, Karl Leisner studied for the priesthood in the Diocese of Munster, and as a seminarian he established Catholic youth groups. Bishop Clemens von Galen named diocesan youth leader. However, the Nazis sought control of all work with youth, and Leisner had to take teenagers “camping” in neutral Belgium and the Nederlands in order to freely discuss Catholicism. He spent six months in compulsory agricultural work during which, despite Nazi opposition, he organized Sunday Mass for his fellow workers. Ordained deacon by Bishop von Galen in 1939, he was imprisoned for criticizing Hitler. In December 1941 he was transferred to Dachau, where he was secretly ordained on 17 December 1944 by a French bishop who was also imprisoned. Leisner was so sick he had to postpone his first Mass for over a week. After Dachauw as libertaed, he was sent to a tuberculosis sanitarium for the remaining months of his life. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.
(Adapted from Saints.sqpn.com)