Szombathely, Hungary, May 1, 2018 / 11:46 am
Fr. János Brenner, a Cistercian Hungarian priest who was martyred in the 1950s, was beatified May 1. The beatification took place in Szombathely, Hungary, the same location where the Communist government had tried to prevent the faithful from attending Brenner's funeral 60 years ago.
Brenner was born on Dec. 27, 1931 in Szombathely, Hungary. He attended Catholic schools run by the Cistercian order for several years until the nationalization of schools by the communist government which came to power after World War II as part of the Eastern Bloc.
He was accepted as a novice to the Cistercian order in Zirc in 1950, and took the name Br. Anastasius (Anasztáz).
However, only a few months after Brenner began formation, the communist government began suppressing religious houses. To protect the men in formation, the novice master moved the young brothers from the abbey to private apartments, where they hoped to continue formation in secret.