Their names may have faded from history books, but on May 31, the Church officially remembered 15 Polish nuns who were martyred during World War II. Source: OSV News.
In a solemn ceremony in Braniewo, northeastern Poland, 15 nuns from the Congregation of St Catherine Virgin and Martyr were beatified – recognised as martyrs who gave their lives during the final, brutal months of World War II.
The sisters were killed in 1945 as Soviet troops advanced into the region. Rather than flee, these women of peace chose to remain with the vulnerable people in their care, offering comfort and protection amid chaos and violence. Their witness, long overlooked, was honoured by the Church in a liturgy rich with gratitude and reverence.
Sister Cristofora (Krzysztofa) Klomfass and her 14 companions died horrific deaths, often while trying to protect patients, or defending their own dignity.
According to Sr Lucja Jaworska, the postulator of the beatification process, “All these sisters died at the hands of Soviet soldiers. They defended the purity they had vowed to God – this virtue, which today is so often questioned in different ways by the world.”
Despite the unimaginable violence they faced, the sisters never renounced their faith or their vows. “They died for their faith, in defence of dignity, purity and the people entrusted to them. They were victims of hatred against Christianity and the Catholic Church,” Sr Jaworska said.
Pope Leo XIV, in his remarks after the Regina Caeli prayer on Sunday, said: “Despite a climate of hatred and of terror against the Catholic faith,” the sisters “persevered in their service to the sick and orphans.”
The Pope added: “Let us commend to the intercession of the new Blessed Martyrs all those women religious throughout the world who devote themselves generously for the sake of God’s Kingdom.”
Presiding over the beatification Mass, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and papal envoy to the ceremony, emphasised in his homily that the newly beatified sisters offer a message.
“Sr Krzysztofa Klomfass and her 14 companions offer us today a special lesson – resilience in the face of a culture of hatred and division, so prevalent in our society today,” Cardinal Semeraro said.
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Polish nuns beatified for heroic witness amid wartime horror (By Katarzyna Szalajko, OSV News)
