WARSAW, Poland (CNS) — Ten Polish nuns have been approved for beatification as martyrs 76 years after they were killed while resisting rape and facing other atrocities by Soviet soldiers in the final months of World War II. “This will show how courage and devotion are linked to saintliness. It’s been an explosion of spiritual joy for us,” said Sister Jozefa Krupa, spokeswoman for the Congregation of Sisters of St. Elizabeth, the religious order to which the women belonged. “Even with the passage of time, their stories still provide an opportunity to look to the depths of our inner life, seeing what truly has value and is worth defending,” Sister Jozefa told Catholic News Service. Pope Francis approved the beatification of the women religious June 19, a decade after officials in the Diocese of Wroclaw launched the process for sainthood. The women, ranging in age from 29 to 70, were chosen from among more than 100 murdered St. Elizabeth sisters based on the availability of documentation and witnesses, Sister Jozefa said. Meanwhile, a leading Catholic historian said the mass beatification would highlight a little-known historical period, and recall the “terrible sufferings” faced by religious orders during the Soviet army’s presence in Poland.
Polish nuns killed by Soviet army as World War II ended showed courage – The Catholic Sun
Polish nuns killed by Soviet army as World War II ended showed courage – The Catholic Sun
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