Franz Rudolf Bornewasser

Franz Rudolf Bornewasser
(Arch)Bishop of Trier
The new Bishop of Münster Clemens August Graf von Galen with Cardinal Karl Joseph Schulte, Bishop Rudolf Bornewasser of Trier and Bishop Wilhelm Berning of Osnabrück in procession in 1933.
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Trier
In office	12 March 1922 – 20 December 1951
Predecessor	Michael Felix Korum
Successor	Matthias Wehr
Previous posts	Titular Bishop of Bida (1921-1922) Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1921-1922)
Orders
Ordination	10 March 1894
Consecration	29 May 1921 by Karl Joseph Schulte
Personal details
Born	(1886-03-12)12 March 1886 Radevormwald, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Died	20 December 1951(1951-12-20) (aged 65) Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
Coat of arms

Franz Rudolf Bornewasser (12 March 1866; Radevormwald – 20 December 1951; Trier) was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Trier, in Germany, during the Nazi era.

In 1941, the Bishop of Münster, Clemens August von Galen, publicly denounced the Nazi “euthanasia” program in a sermon, and telegrammed his text to Hitler. Franz Bornewasser also sent protests to Hitler, though not in public.

Documents prepared by the American OSS, and used in evidence at the Nuremberg Trials, record that the Nazis were cautious with regard to the murder of church leaders, and conscious of not wanting to create martyrs. Nevertheless, Catholic leaders frequently faced violence or the threat of violence, particularly at the hands of the SA, the SS or Hitler Youth. A number of cases were cited by the OSS, including two attacks against Bishop Bornewasser of Trier.

See also

• Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church
• Catholic resistance to Nazism