Blessed Max Josef Metzger

Max Josef Metzger (3 February 1887 – 17 April 1944) was a Catholic priest and leading German pacifist. Due to his activities for peace between nations, Metzger was a thorn in the side of the National Socialists. After being arrested several times, Max Josef Metzger was executed in Brandenburg-Görden Prison in 1944. He was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2024. Born on 3 February 1887, in Schopfheim in Baden, Germany, Metzger studied first at the lycee in Konstanz, where Martin Heidegger was also a student. Here Metzger gave a lecture on the "History of the Monastery at Reichenau". As a student, Metzger likely lived at Saint Conrad, a student residence established by the archbishop of Freiburg to provide religious training for those preparing for Holy Orders. One of the highly regarded professors at the lycee was an instructor by the name of Pacius, a democrat and pacifist who taught modern languages. Metzger then attended the University of Freiburg im Breisgau and then at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he earned a doctorate in theology. In 1911 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, and was sent to parish work in the Archdiocese of Freiburg, since he definitely didn't want to pursue a scientific career. "My object is not to become a scholar, nor ... to obtain an honorable or pleasant position one day, but only to become a pious priest and capable pastor and to be able to develop all my powers for the glory of God", he stated. Metzger served as a military chaplain for the forces of Imperial Germany during World War I. It is still unclear what motivated him to do this. He was awarded the Iron Cross on 6 May 1915, and honorably discharged because of ill health in October 1915, when he got pneumonia and pleurisy. His experience on the front lines convinced him that "future wars have lost their meaning, since they no longer give anybody the prospect of winning more than he loses".