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

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.