Viewpoint

Last week, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus wrote to all the Jesuits in the world advising us of the beatification of Fr Eduard Profittlich SJ, a Jesuit who worked in Estonia, and through his commitment to them, embodied what it means to be a “man for others”. Fr Profittlich will be beatified next week, on 6 September in Tallinn, Estonia. He will then be known as Blessed Eduard Profittlich. In order for him to recognised as a saint of the universal Church, one further miracle will need to be recognised as coming about through people’s devotion to him and through his intercession, arising from their prayerful devotion.

Fr Profittlich was a person of courage, love and service. He was born on 11 September 1890 in Birresdorf in Germany. He was the eighth of ten children, and his parents were farmers. Eduard’s older brother, Peter, had joined the Jesuits and was sent as a missionary to Brazil where he died at the age of 37. Eduard followed in his brother’s footsteps joining the Jesuits in 1913. At this time the Jesuits had been expelled from Germany, so he undertook his formation in the Netherlands, including working in a military hospital for a year during the First World War.

Eduard was ordained a priest in 1922 and continued his studies in Krakow, Poland. He worked for several years as a priest in Poland and then back in his home country of Germany, before being missioned to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Tallinn, Estonia.

Within his first year in Estonia, Pope Pius XI, appointed him as the Apostolic Administrator of Estonia. At the time there were about 1000 Catholics in the country. Over the next ten years, Fr Profittlich worked to build the Church in Estonia. He was known to be an effective preacher, writer and theologian. He was committed to ecumenical engagement with the Protestant and Orthodox Churches in Estonia. In 1936, Pope Pius XI appointed him as the Archbishop. In the years that followed, the nascent Church in Estonia grew. However, with the advent of the Second World War, Estonian and its growing Church, faced a time of great hardship with the Soviet occupation, and then the German occupation of the country.

As a person of German origin, Archbishop Profittlich was given the choice of returning to Germany during the Soviet occupation. Following a period of significant discernment, he made the decision to remain in Estonia. At the time he wrote the following to his family back in Germany advising them of his decision,

Even if the future does not look bright from a human point of view, I have decided to stay. After all, it is only right that the shepherd should be with his flock, sharing their happiness and their misfortune. I must say that, even though it took me several weeks to make this decision, I did not do so out of fear or trepidation, but with great joy. And when, in the end, it became clear that I had to stay, my joy was so great that I prayed the Te Deum with gratitude and joy. In general, I felt God’s grace so strongly in my soul that I have rarely felt as happy in my life as I did on that Thursday afternoon after I made my decision; and I have never celebrated Holy Mass with such devotion as I did last Friday, the day after the decision. I would have liked to tell everyone how good God is to us when we give ourselves completely to Him; how happy we can be when we are willing to give everything – our freedom and our lives – to Christ. I am sure that many people have prayed for me during this time, asking God to show me the right path and to grant me His grace generously. (...)

What the future holds, I don’t know. No one can predict the course of events with certainty. But of one thing I am sure right now: God’s will for me is that I remain here, and this makes me happy and I face the future with great hope. Whatever may happen, I know that God will be with me. So, everything will be all right. And my life and – if it should be so – my death will be a life and a death for Christ. (...) This would be the most beautiful end to my life.

Archbishop Profittlich did not know what the future would hold, but in the face of extraordinary adversity he courageously loved and served the people that had been entrusted to his care. In June 1941, he was arrested and deported to Russia. He was tortured and interrogated and charged with espionage and counter-revolutionary activity against the Soviet Union and sentenced to death. However, he was not executed, but rather he died in prison, on 22 February 1942,  because of the suffering he endured for living out his faith and remaining completely devoted to Christ and the people of Estonia.  Through his life of courage, love and service Blessed Eduard Profittlich SJ modelled for us one way of being a person for and with others.

Wishing you every blessing.