Pope Beatifies Jewish-Born Nun Who Died at Auschwitz : Says Edith Stein Offered Life for Her ‘Martyred People’

COLOGNE, West Germany —  Pope John Paul II today beatified a Jewish-born nun killed in Auschwitz, telling Jews skeptical of the tribute that she had offered her life for her “martyred people.”

Less than four hours earlier, a fire of unknown origin destroyed a Roman Catholic church just over a mile from the stadium where the pontiff beatified Carmelite nun Edith Stein. Police reported that graffiti spray-painted on another Catholic church said, “We love to see churches burn.”

More than 1,200 leftists and Greens, including naked women and one naked man, marched through downtown streets today to Cologne Cathedral, chanting “Pope get lost!” police said. Marchers included homosexuals, lesbians and women’s activists. No incidents were reported.

Protest Announced

The Greens said before the Pope arrived in West Germany on Thursday that they would protest the pontiff’s traditional stances on divorce, birth control and other issues.

The beatification of Edith Stein--a major step toward possible sainthood--drew criticism from some Jewish leaders, who said she was killed because she was born a Jew, not because she became a Roman Catholic.

The Nazis killed the 50-year-old nun in an Auschwitz gas chamber in 1942.

“Edith Stein died at the Auschwitz extermination camp the daughter of a martyred people,” the Pope said. “She offered herself to God as a sacrifice for genuine peace and above all for her threatened and humiliated Jewish people.”

Controversial Assertions

On the first day of his West German visit Thursday, the Pope dismissed controversial assertions by some Catholics that Stein was executed because she was a Roman Catholic, not because she was born Jewish. (Story, Page 6.)

The beatification of Stein took place during an outdoor Mass before 75,000 people in Cologne’s soccer stadium. It was the religious high point of the five-day papal visit to West Germany.

Stein’s niece, Susan Batzdorf of Santa Rosa, Calif., who attended the ceremony, said afterwards that her aunt had been killed because she was Jewish.

Called Jewish Martyr

“She died because she was a Jew and she died because she believed in her own (Catholic) faith, but if she hadn’t been of Jewish background she wouldn’t have been killed. That is still my belief. I believe she was a Jewish martyr--one of 6 million,” said Batzdorf, who is in her 60s.

The Pope today emphasized that Stein, who took the name Sister Theresa Benedicta a Cruce upon becoming a nun, died as “an outstanding daughter of Israel.”

The pontiff said Stein’s conversion to Catholicism was not meant to be a break with her Jewish faith. “She was always mindful of the fact that she was related to Christ not only in a spiritual sense but also in blood terms,” he said.