Beatification of a martyr for the faith

On July 3, 2011, a beatification ceremony took place in Satu Mare (also know in the Jewish world as Satmar), Transylvania, Rumania. The solemn mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Peter Erdo, Primate of Hungary and Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, who represented Pope Benedict XVI.

Janos Scheffler was born in 1887 in Kalmand, then in Hungary into a poor peasant family. After his studies for the priesthood he was ordained in 1910 and sent to Rome to specialize in Canon Law. In 1942, he was named Bishop of Satmar, since the end of the First World War part of Rumania and renamed Satu Mare.

During the Second World War, he helped the many refugees fleeing the horrors of the war and was known for his assistance to the Jewish population in the diocese who were especially in danger.

When, at the end of the war, the Communist regime in Rumania tried to create a Church faithful to the regime and in schism with Rome, Bishop Scheffler resisted and he was arrested and put on trial. Sentenced to hard labor in a prison camp, he died shortly afterwards as a result of the tortures he was forced to endure.

The new blessed is an inspiration for all those who still today are persecuted for their faith.