The Last Emperor

ON 3 OCTOBER POPE John Paul II beatified a man who occupied a very peculiar place in world history - Karl Habsburg. This man was the last emperor of Austria, the last king of Hungary, the last king of Bohemia, and the last monarch of the Habsburg dynasty. He was married to Zita, the daughter of Robert I, Bourbon, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, with whom he had eight children.
In 1918 he was forced to withdraw, although he refused to abdicate and, in 1921, after a failed bid to regain the crown of Hungary, he was deported to the island of Madeira, where he died. He was only 34.

Active contemplatives

It may appear strange for an emperor to be declared Blessed. Commonplace notions do not associate wealth and power with a saintly, contemplative disposition. It may therefore come as a surprise that numerous saints have belonged to rich and ruling dynasties. One need only mention King Stephen of Hungary; Saint Agnes of Prague; Saint Elizabeth of Hungary; Saint Henry II, Emperor; Saint Bridget of Sweden; Saint Louis IX, King of France; Saint Ferdinand III Alfonsez, and others, to bring the point to the fore.
Karl Habsburg belonged to one of the most illustrious and longest ruling Houses in Europe: the Habsburgs. The first-born son of archduke Otto Franz of Austria and of Princess Josepha of Saxony, he received the usual education reserved for the offspring of the ruling class: the study of the various languages used across the empire, the high-school curriculum of the Schotten Benedictine abbey at Vienna, and finally the study of Law at the university in Prague. But Karl early evinced particular sensitivity to religious values, and grew to be a physically healthy, loyal and confident young man who displayed great faith in God.
On leaving university, he undertook a brilliant military career, distinguishing himself by the particular care he showed for his soldiers, irrespective of class or status. He was at home among ordinary soldiers, did not demand any deference from them, and treated all soldiers as brothers. His fundamental traits were generosity, compassion, magnanimity, loyalty and justice, but above all, he upheld the Christian virtues to a heroic degree.
The most striking aspect, however, to emerge from his biography is his political farsightedness. While the unprecedented carnage of the First World War was in progress, this sovereign was dedicating heart and soul to the titanic task of getting Europe's bickering leaders together to sign full and unconditioned peace agreements. His vision was a of grand European Union in which the various states had overcome the chauvinistic, nationalistic impulses; a Union based on cooperation and respect between the various nations, and which kept ethnic minorities and local cultures under its protecting wing.
This vision, however, was not shared by statesmen of his time, who saw his ideals as naive utopia. They consequently decided to isolate him, and he became the target of a smear campaign. Finally, after some of his closed aides and friends had turned their backs to him, he was forced into exile after reigning for only two years.

Justice restored

Now, 82 years after his death, the Church has decided to do justice to this much maligned man, by calling him Blessed, and by singling him out as an example to all God's people.
Some historians question his political competence, and point out supposed political naivety and mistakes in government. However, all grant that no moral fault can be found in him.
Attorney Andrea Ambrosi, postulator for the cause of Blessed Karl Habsburg, told  me during the interview granted to our magazine, While examining the piles of documents containing the testimonies of people who actually knew him personally, it became clear the I was dealing with a man of very great moral stature, a man who had governed with wisdom and justice. His political and social thinking was well ahead of his times. If European heads-of-state had paid more attention to his views, and followed on them, the European Union would have arisen long before it actually did, with a much fairer Constitution, and Europe would not have plunged into the tragedy of the Second World War.
With a major in Civil and Canon Law, Ambrosi, a consultant for the Sacred Roman Rota and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has edited a long study on the heroic virtues practiced by this saintly and kingly man.
Karl Habsburg is an impressive figure, he says enthusiastically. His stainless life was conducted in the midst of a court filled with intrigue and immorality. He was a devout Catholic, a role model as father and husband, a faithful son and bold defender of the Church and the Pope.

Force of destiny

Born on 17 August, 1887, Karl was fifth in succession to the imperial throne. It was therefore regarded as highly unlikely that he would one day succeed to the throne of the almost legendary Franz Joseph, the emperor who had guided the fate of the Austo-Hungarian Empire from 1848 to 1916, that is, for an incredible 68 years.
Life's normal course, however, was overturned by a series of unexpected events. Crown Prince Rudolf, the only male offspring of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth (Sissi), unexpectedly committed suicide in concert with his young lover, Mary Baroness Vetsera at Mayerling in 1889. Franz Joseph's younger brother, Maximilian, was executed in 1867 by revolutionaries after he had become Emperor of Mexico. Archduke Karl Ludwig, Franz Joseph's second brother, died in 1896 after drinking infected water from the Jordan river in the Holy Land. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the son of Karl Ludwig, then became next in line to the throne. However, owing to his marriage to an ordinary countess, he was compelled to renounce all claims to the throne in favour of his brother, Otto, Karl's father. However, Otto died early, at the age of 40, as a consequence of a dissolute life. Finally, Francis Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in 1914 - a notorious event that sparked off the First World War.
Emperor Franz Joseph died on 21 November 1916, and Karl succeeded him to the throne on the very same day. But Karl also inherited the War from his predecessor, and went on to reign for two troublesome years.
The First World War eventually toppled nearly all of Europe's old monarchies, including that of the Habsburgs, and dismembered the Austo-Hungarian Empire.
At the end of the war, Austria become a Republic, and the emperor was forced into exile. Karl moved first to Switzerland, but finally settled in Funchal, in the Portuguese island of Madeira. His life ended in great poverty, but with that spiritual comfort peculiar to the blameless. In the spring of 1922 a bout of the flu constrained him to bed. Economic poverty had forced his family into a cold and humid home. The flu developed into a serious bronchitis, and he passed away on 1 April of that same year.
On his death-bed, he confided the following words to his grief-stricken wife: My whole life has been guided by the undying aspiration to know God's will at all times and places, and to fulfil it to the best of my ability.
I posed the following questions to Attorney Andrea Ambrosi, who was happy to receive me in his office in Rome after learning that I intended to prepare this interview for the readers of the Messenger of Saint Anthony.

What are the fundamental spiritual traits of this emperor?
The same as those found in any Christian saint: fervent devotion, undaunted hope, and charity. He always felt great compassion for the poor and the needy, even for his enemies. Then we also see great humility and modesty in him, profound veneration for the Eucharist, and filial love for the Virgin Mary. He was imbued with a deeply felt sensus Ecclesiae, that is, he felt the presence of God in the Church and in human history. Karl was truly a servant of God, even if he was a layman.

Is it true that Pope Pius X had prophesised that Karl was to become emperor?
Yes, that's correct. Saint Pius X had a very high opinion of this man and of his wife, Zita. Shortly after Zita's engagement to Karl, Pius X received the young lady at a private meeting in June, 1911, and on that occasion revealed to her that Karl was destined to occupy the throne of the empire, and added that his Christian virtues would become an example for humanity.

Empress Zita died in 1989, and was a key witness during the beatification process. When she met Karl, was she aware that her fiancé was a saint?
The testimonies that Zita has left us, depositions given under oath, are of inestimable value because they open a window into the soul of this outstanding man. Written testimonies reveal that she only gradually became aware of the extraordinary store of goodness and of faith inside him. When recalling their first dates and encounters, she said, His actions were already then under the guidance of a resolute sense of duty. However, though he gave me the impression of being a fervent Catholic, I had no idea of just how deep his faith was. I believe that, by receiving Holy Communion, at first frequently, and then on a daily basis, his virtues received constant nourishment and strengthening.
At another deposition, Zita tells us that at the moment of his accession, Karl made the inner promise to dedicate every ounce of his strength to the well-being of his subjects, in particular to those of Hungary, and remained faithful to this resolution.
He felt himself responsible to his subjects before God, and thought that the onus was mainly on him to guide them, and to pray, suffer and die for them. This awesome task demanded from him a progressive and ever increasing sanctity of life, and an ever closer union with God.

Before ascending to the throne, Karl had undertaken a military career. As emperor, he had to lead his subjects through a bloody war inherited from his predecessor. He therefore spent the greater part of his brief life amid rough and rowdy soldiers, and had to face the harsh reality of military life. How could this saintly and delicate nature function in such a setting?
We know that people who tend toward perfection are also able to transform those around him. He would not allow others to influence him, but gently and gradually asserted his influence on others. Besides, he liked the military life, the company of the soldiers, and always fulfilled his duties with zeal and dedication.
An episode well illustrates his self-sacrificing spirit. A wounded soldier had fallen into the icy-cold and turbulent waters of the Isonzo river in north-eastern Italy. Karl, heedless of danger, immediately dived in to save the drowning man. His comportment did not in any way change once he became Emperor. He regularly visited the trenches and, in open defiance of enemy fire, would talk to the soldiers and assist and comfort the wounded.

How could this warlord working at the highest levels of the state-machinery of death be at the same time a devout Christian?
He was a soldier, but he was certainly against the war. As a soldier he obviously had to comply with the orders coming from above, but once he himself had ascended to the highest levels of state, he dedicated all his energies to ending the senseless slaughter.
One of his first declarations as Emperor was: We are faced with great tasks, the most important of which is to get a peace-process underway as soon as possible. This is what presses me most of all as the sovereign responsible for this empire.
He then pursued this goal with an array of initiatives which many regarded as downright foolhardy. He caused Archduke Friedrick to step down as Commander-in-Chief of the army because he regarded him as an obstacle to the peace-process. He moved the supreme military headquarters from Teschen to Baden, near his residence in Vienna, thus enabling him to supervise meetings and further influence the decision making process. He ordered the removal of a number of warmongers from top military posts. He opposed the use of nerve gas against the enemy, which the Germans were already using, and resisted the idea of using submarines to attack the Italian cities along the Adriatic coast, the first target of which would have been Venice. The civilian population was to be spared, always and at all costs. During his unceasing efforts to end the war, he was in constant contact with Pope Benedict XV.
This stance was to bring him on a collision course with colleagues and allies, who accused him of weakness and baseness. His efforts were eventually defined as a betrayal of the German ally.
Karl's chief concerns were not only for the soldiers, but also for the civilian population, which was experiencing many hardships and the scarcity of basic foodstuffs and other necessities like coal for heating. Karl decided that the whole Royal family would share in the same deprivations, and subjected his wife and children to the same food rations as that of the general population. At the same time, he attempted to curb corruption and the practice of usury.

Was the general public aware of his efforts?
The people knew and loved him, but his enemies were at the highest levels of government, and they decided to mount a smear campaign against him. By the end of the war he had alienated a lot of people within the ruling circles, and when the Austrian Parliament decided to adopt a Republican constitution, he was forced into exile.

How did he face life as an exile?
With great forbearance. He accepted everything without complaint: sufferings, humiliations, betrayals and disappointments. The head of such an important and glorious dynasty was slandered and persecuted relentlessly and shamefully. What is so striking is that he never voiced any words of hatred, but rather concentrated all the more to uniting even closer to God.
Forsaken by practically everyone, he had to sell the crown jewels to support his large family, but even these were stolen from him. It is no exaggeration to say that he experienced bodily hunger.
Monsignor Ernest Seydl, a confidant during that sad period, wrote: He would attend Mass daily. I was always impressed by the intensity of gratitude he displayed after receiving the Body of the Lord. In those moments he seemed as though transfigured. Late in the evening, before retiring, he would always kneel with the Empress for some time in front of the altar, under the dim light of the Eucharistic lamp, as if to draw the strength to bear all with equanimity.
I hope I was able to convey some aspects of this outstanding man, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
We can truly say that his fundamental trait was goodness. There was no weakness, however, in that goodness. There was plenty of iron in his soul. He was able to stand up to people, and to pursue an almost solitary fight for his ideas against all opposition. This takes very great courage, but the source of his moral fortitude was derived from an unshakeable faith in God.

Blessed Karl

On 14 April 2003 the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the presence of Pope John Paul II, promulgated Karl of Austria's 'heroic virtues'. On 21 December, 2003, the Congregation promulgated a miracle approved by John Paul II obtained through the intercession of Karl - the case of a paralysed Brazilian nun who in 1960 found she was able to get out of bed after she had prayed for his beatification. The beatification of Karl (from henceforth to be called Blessed Karl) was performed by the Pope on 3 October 2004. This is the penultimate step before the declaration of sainthood by the Catholic Church.