Max Josef Metzger

The work of Max Josef Metzger centers on the institutes and movements he founded to realize his ideal of peace and Christian unity. In 1917, while residing in Graz, Austria, he founded the Universal Peace League of the White Cross (Weltfriedensbund vom Weißen Kreuz) and developed an international religious program for peace, which he addressed directly to Pope Benedict XV. In 1919, he also founded in Graz the Missionary Society of the White Cross (Missionsgesellschaft vom Weißen Kreuz), a community of priests and laypeople dedicated to charitable action, the fight against alcoholism, and the propagation of the spirit of Christ in society. In 1927, this association took the name Societas Christi Regis (Society of Christ the King). In 1928, Metzger transferred the headquarters of this work to Meitingen, near Augsburg, Germany, where it took charge of a care center for people suffering from addictions. This community, known today as the Christkönigs-Institut (Christ the King Institute), was officially recognized as a secular institute of the Catholic Church in October 1969 by the Bishop of Augsburg, Mgr. Josef Stimpfle. At the same time, Metzger became actively involved in ecumenical dialogue by founding, between 1938 and 1939, the Una Sancta Brotherhood (Una Sancta-Bruderschaft), a movement aimed at bringing together Catholics and Protestants (notably Lutherans) in prayer and fraternal theological discussion to overcome historical divisions of faith.

The reputation of Max Josef Metzger's martyrdom has been consistently maintained after the war, both for his pacifist commitment and for his witness of faith in the face of Nazi barbarism. In 1997, the Berlin Regional Court posthumously overturned his death sentence by the Nazi regime. The diocesan process for his beatification was officially opened on May 8, 2006, by the Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau, Mgr. Robert Zollitsch, after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints granted the transfer of competence from the Berlin forum to Freiburg in 2003. The diocesan inquiry concluded in March 2014, and the file (comprising approximately 6,000 pages of documentation) was transmitted to Rome. On March 14, 2024, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Max Josef Metzger, killed in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei) by the National Socialist regime. This recognition dispensed the cause from the presentation of an approved miracle.

The solemn celebration of the beatification of Max Josef Metzger took place on November 17, 2024, in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Freiburg im Breisgau (Freiburger Münster), Germany. The ceremony was presided over, on behalf of Pope Francis, by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. During his homily, Cardinal Koch emphasized that Metzger's death was an eloquent testimony to what a Christian martyr is, intimately uniting the commitment to peace and the search for the unity of the Church. His liturgical memorial (feast day) has been set for April 17, the anniversary of his martyrdom.

The spirituality of Max Josef Metzger rests on the absolute centrality of Christ, summarized by his motto: "Christ must be King!" (Christus muss König sein!). For him, the social reign of Christ could only be established through peace between nations and the visible reconciliation of divided Christians. He considered that the Church could only credibly bear witness to peace in the world if its own members were reconciled. Metzger is recognized today as one of the great pioneers of modern ecumenism. His vision prefigured what Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis have called the "ecumenism of blood" (ecumenismo del sangue), where martyrdom shared by Christians of different confessions transcends historical divisions. His poems and letters written in prison testify to a profound serenity and a total abandonment to the divine will. His final words, spoken shortly before walking to the scaffold, summarize the offering of his life: "I have offered my life to God for the peace of the world and the unity of the Church" (Ich habe mein Leben Gott angeboten für den Frieden der Welt und die Einheit der Kirchen).