Fr. Leo Heinrichs, OFM, Proto-Martyr of Colorado

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

History, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Education

5 • 724 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

Father Leo Heinrichs was a Franciscan who fled persecution in Germany only to be shot dead by an Italian anarchist in Denver in 1908. He first came to New York and New Jersey where he ministered for 16 years. He was much loved by the homeless and those in need, as he did great work providing for their needs, and giving them spiritual comfort. But in 1907 he was transferred to St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Denver, the parish established for the large German-speaking population in that city. Just five months later he swapped Sunday Mass times with another priest so that he could make it to a morning meeting. In the congregation that day was Giuseppe Alia, a recent immigrant from Italy who hated the Catholic Church and especially priests. He shot Father Leo at point blank range during Communion, but was tackled before he could leave the church. He was tried, convicted, and hanged without repentance, despite the efforts of the Franciscans to minister to him and to plead for clemency. Father Leo's cause for canonization opened, but it stalled in 1940.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic History. If you like our podcast, be sure to follow
0:10.8	us, give us a five-star rating, and a great review wherever you get your podcasts. Also, please
0:16.6	become a supporter at American Catholic History.org slash support. I'm Noel Heaster Crow. And I'm Tom Crow. Today we're talking about Father Leo
0:25.9	Heinrichs, a Franciscan from Germany who was shot dead at the comedian rail in Denver, Colorado.
0:32.9	Now, this is such a sensational story that it's surprising his name isn't more well known among
0:38.6	American Catholics.
0:39.5	You're not kidding, but this is why we do this podcast.
0:43.3	That's right.
0:44.3	It's like you said so many times American Catholics have a remarkable history of all
0:50.4	of our own, and we do not need to cross an ocean to visit the grave of a martyr or of an
0:55.8	incredibly holy priest. Nope. We have them all across this country, coast to coast, and Father
1:01.1	Leo is a double example. He left an example of humble, Christ-like service and devotion, and he also
1:08.0	suffered martyrdom. He would have been an example for all of us without the dramatic circumstances of his death.
1:14.9	Well, so let's tell everyone about Father Leo and where he came from.
1:18.8	Right. So Father Leo Heinrichs was born Joseph Heinrich in Ostrich, Rhineland, Germany,
1:24.1	on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, August 15, 1867.
1:29.3	In his teens, Joseph sought to enter the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in Fonda, Germany,
1:35.2	but the anti-Catholic Culture Kampf pushed by the Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was making
1:40.8	life difficult for Catholics and especially religious orders.
1:44.4	Right. The CultureConf figures into a number of these stories about German Catholics coming to the United States.
1:51.0	CultureConf translates into English as culture struggle, and Bismarck really saw it as that.
1:57.2	His goal was a unified German state under Prussian dominance, and he saw the Catholic
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