Brother Fortunatus Thanheuser, German-born missionary, who helped transform the lives of the poor in Kerala’s High Ranges after surviving Nazi regime, was put on the path to sainthood on Saturday. Brother Fortunatus was declared a Servant of God, the first step in the four-phased canonization process, at a solemn Mass presided over by Bishop Mathew Arackal of Kanjirapally at St. George Forane Church, Kattappana, a major town in Idukki district. After the Mass, Bishop Arackal led a procession to the saintly missionary’s tomb in the cemetery of “Pratheeksha Bhawan” (abode of hope), a home for the aged and destitute the brother started in early 1970s. Brother Fortunatus came to India in 1969 at the invitation of the then Archbishop Mathew Kavukattu of Changanacherry. On his arrival the German missionary chose to work in the inaccessible High Ranges that lacked infrastructure and basic amenities. Immediately he set about improving healthcare and educational facilities in the area. He set up St John’s Hospital in 1971 to the medical needs of local people, who were mostly poor Christian settlers from Kerala’s central region. Besides Pratheeksha Bhavan, he launched several social and charitable projects to help thousands of the poor in the High Ranges. He founded the Sisters of Charity of St. John of God, religious congregation for women, to help in his works. Brother Fortunatus Thanheuser was born as Bernard on February 27, 1918, at Berlin, Germany. He entered the Hospitallar order at the age of 18. His first profession due after a year of was delayed for six months because all his superiors had been imprisoned by the Gestapo, the Nazi-Secret-Police. He took his final vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in 1946 and in 1951, the Polish Communist Authorities deported him from Silesia to West Germany. Two years later, he became the novice master of his congregation. In 1968, he became the vice chairman of he ‘Union of Major Superiors of the Religious Institute of Brothers in Germany.’ However, a year later he departed for India. The German government awarded him ‘The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany’ in 1995 in recognition of his humanitarian activities. He died on November 21, 2005, at Kattappana. Hundreds of thousands of people turned up for his funeral services on November 25-26. #Servant_of_God #Daivadasan #Br_Fortunatus
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 07:45:30 +0000
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