Johannes Maria Gföllner


Johannes Evangelist Maria Gföllner was an Austrian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz.
He was ordained a priest on 28 October 1893 in Rome and went on to teach in several institutions; he was appointed a bishop on 16 July 1915.
In 1933 he wrote a pastoral letter entitled "On True and False Nationalism’’ warning of the dangers of National Socialism; this letter had a circulation of about 35,000. He later refused to meet Hitler during his visit to Linz.
A street in Linz was named after him; however, in 2022, the local council decided to change the name of the street due to his public anti-Semitism.