Titus Brandsma: Journalist -Martyr
Born in 1881, Titus Brandsma was a Dutch theologian, journalist, and author, as well as ordained Carmelite priest, who forcefully opposed and spoke out against the anti-Jewish laws the Nazis were passing in Germany before World War II.
In January 1942, when Germany invaded the Netherlands, he was arrested. The Nazis told the Carmelite priest that he would be allowed to live a quiet life in a monastery if he would announce that Catholic newspapers should publish Nazi propaganda.
When Fr. Titus refused, he shortly thereafter died of hardship and starvation in the Dachau concentration camp on 26 July 1942. He died at the age of 61 after he was injected with carbolic acid.
In 1985, Pope St. John Paul II declared Titus Blessed, saying that he “answered hate with love.”
Source: Vatican News
