The speech was read by Pascual Cebollada S.J., Postulator General of the Society of Jesus.
Thanks to the Most Reverend Philippe Jourdan, Bishop of Tallinn.
Your Eminence,
Your Excellencies,
Dear friends, who have gathered for today’s great event,
today is a great day for the Catholic Church in Estonia. Thank you for inviting me to participate in it, because it is also a great day for the Society of Jesus. We rejoice with all of you who have gathered this morning here, in Tallinn, for the beatification of Msgr. Eduard Profittlich, S.J. We are proud of the life of a member of our Jesuit brotherhood, who sacrificed himself for the faithful of this beautiful Terra Mariana, the Land of Mary. His missionary vocation brought him to your country, where he worked with simplicity and determination in many ways for the good of the Catholic Church and the citizens of Estonia, also promoting ecumenical relations with Protestants and Orthodox. The Spirit of God gave him the courage to stay with you during the most difficult times. As a true man of the “Spiritual Exercises” of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, his faith in God and love for his people were firmly rooted in Jesus Christ. By taking up the cross, being with Christ gave peace and hope to the newly beatified.
Estonia’s second Apostolic Administrator was not the only member of the Society of Jesus to arrive here. We remember Father Antonio Possevino, who lived in the 16th century, and others who worked for the re-Catholicization of Livonia, founded the Tartu Collegium, and published books in the local language. But also the Apostolic Administrator Antonio Zecchini and other Jesuits in the 20th century, who were arrested and sent to concentration camps at the same time as Archbishop Eduard Profittlich.
I am very grateful to Almighty God for giving us an outstanding intercessor in all our needs as a new martyr. I thank the Church and recall that Pope Francis strongly expressed the requirement to promote this canonical process here in Tallinn in 2018. I also thank Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who, as Pope Leo’s delegate, celebrated the Mass of Beatification. Thank you, Cardinal Schönborn, for being here.
Special thanks and greetings to His Excellency Msgr. Philippe Jourdan, Bishop of Tallinn. He proposed that we take charge of the process of canonization for the Servant of God Eduard Profittlich in the Roman phase. He organized and advanced the process, which successfully concluded in a relatively short time. May the assistance of the second Apostolic Administrator of Estonia continue to guide you and your faithful with wisdom and strength, as stated in the Collect of the Mass for the newly beatified.
The Vice-Postulator, Mrs. Marge-Marie Paas, who was involved in the beatification process from the beginning and successfully completed a large part of the work, especially the drafting of the Positio in the Roman phase, deserves our heartfelt congratulations. She has travelled; met people who knew anything about Profittlich; written books and articles; and given lectures about our Jesuit brother, spreading knowledge about the Archbishop and encouraging devotion to him. In recent years, she worked with our Postulator, Pascual Cebollada, and the relator appointed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Szczepan Praśkiewicz, O.C.D., to prepare the Positio as thoroughly as possible and present it to the Dicastery, where historians, theologians, bishops, and cardinals read it and gave their assessment. Many thanks to those institutions that ensured the Church reached a decision regarding the recognition of Msgr. Profittlich as a saint.
Together with the Diocese of Trier and its Bishop Msgr. Stephan Ackermann, representatives from the countries where Blessed Eduard Profittlich lived – Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Estonia, and Russia – are participating in today’s joyful great event. And with them, I pray to Almighty God – once again with the words of the daily prayer – that He may grant us the grace ‘to remain firm in faith and to promote peace among all peoples.’
Arturo Sosa, S.J.
Superior General