FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, MARCH 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedictine Father Paul Marx, whom Pope John Paul II called the “apostle of life,” died Saturday at age 89.
Father Marx, a native of Minnesota, founded the Human Life Center in 1971, two years before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion. Ten years later, the center became Human Life International (HLI), and Father Marx was president of the group until his retirement in 1999.
“Father put pro-life ‘on the map’ in a literal sense and through his efforts gave the world direct and organized opposition to the culture of death,” said Father Thomas Euteneuer, who succeeded Father Marx as president of HLI.
Father Marx also authored several books in defense of life, including “The Death Peddlers: War on the Unborn” (1971), “Death Without Dignity: Killing for Mercy” (1982), “Confessions of a Pro-Life Missionary” (1988), “The Flying Monk” (1990), and his autobiography, “Faithful for Life” (1997).
Father Marx died just short of his 90th birthday. A statement from HLI recalled how the priest liked to note that he was born 10 days before John Paul II. That Pope once told him, “You are doing the most important work on earth.”
Father Marx’s funeral is scheduled for Friday.
