Franz de Castro Holzwarth

Alongside his legal career, Franz de Castro Holzwarth felt a profound spiritual calling. He considered the priesthood or the diaconate for a time, undergoing discernment with the Dehonian Fathers (Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) in Taubaté. It was during this period that he discovered his true vocation: to serve Christ through prisoners, as a committed layman. In 1973, he joined the Association for the Protection and Assistance of Convicts (APAC), a revolutionary organization founded in 1972 by the lawyer Mário Ottoboni in São José dos Campos. The APAC aims to provide spiritual, material, and legal assistance to inmates, while promoting their social reintegration and supporting their families. Franz dedicated himself to it heart and soul, living in a simple and humble manner despite his professional success. Having become vice-president of the association, he spent many hours in prisons, preparing inmates for the sacraments (notably confirmation), praying the rosary with them, and offering attentive and spiritual listening to the most marginalized.

On February 14, 1981, a violent riot broke out at the public prison of Jacareí. The inmates took several hostages and demanded vehicles to escape. Respected and listened to by the prisoners, Franz de Castro Holzwarth and Mário Ottoboni were urgently called by the authorities to serve as mediators. A first group of mutineers managed to leave the premises in a vehicle driven by Mário Ottoboni, accompanied by two hostages. However, the situation deteriorated rapidly for the second group. To unblock the negotiations and preserve the life of a military policeman held hostage, Franz de Castro Holzwarth freely and consciously offered to take his place. He boarded the getaway car (a Ford Belina model) with the prisoners. Unfortunately, the military police broke the non-aggression agreement and opened heavy fire on the vehicle. Franz de Castro Holzwarth died instantly, struck by more than thirty bullets, alongside five inmates. He was 38 years old.

The reputation of holiness and martyrdom of Franz de Castro Holzwarth spread rapidly in Brazil, particularly within the prison pastoral care and among members of the APAC. On March 6, 2009, the cause for beatification was officially opened by the Diocese of São José dos Campos. In 2010, his mortal remains were exhumed from his hometown of Barra do Piraí and solemnly transferred to the mother church of São José dos Campos, where he attended Mass daily. The diocesan phase of the inquiry closed on December 22, 2010, and the file was transmitted to Rome. On December 17, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the "offering of life" (super oblatione vitae) of Franz de Castro Holzwarth, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable. His cause is historically significant: it is the very first cause for beatification to be examined and validated under this new canonical category, instituted by Pope Francis in 2017 by the Motu Proprio Maiorem hac dilectionem. This path recognizes the sacrifice of those who, moved by Christian charity, voluntarily and freely offer their lives in the face of certain death, without the traditional criteria of strict martyrdom (hatred of the faith) or heroic virtues being fully required.

The spirituality of Franz de Castro Holzwarth is based on an intimate union with Christ and a total gift of self. In 1967, he wrote to a priest friend: "What matters to me is to live my life in Christ, and to give myself to others like a priest. There is in me this desire for total self-giving." Having not received ordination, he fully realized this baptismal priesthood through his commitment to those excluded by the prison system. His legacy remains extremely vibrant in Brazil. The APAC, which he helped to develop, has spread throughout the country and internationally, promoting a method of humanized detention without armed guards, centered on accountability, work, and spirituality. Furthermore, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) of São Paulo presents the "Franz de Castro Holzwarth Human Rights Award" each year to honor individuals committed to the defense of human dignity.