Fr. Jan Swierc and Salesian Companions to Be Beatified on June 6, 2026

Salesian Martyrs Fr. Jan Swierc and 8 Companions Will Be Beatified on June 6, 2026

(ANS - Vatican City – December 9, 2025) - On November 18, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute of the Vatican Secretariat of State, informed Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, postulator general of the causes of the saints of the Salesian Family, the rite of beatification of the Venerable Servants of God Jan Swierc and 8 Companions will take place on June 6, 2026, in Krakow. Pope Leo XIV’s representative will be Card. Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Fr. Jan Swierc and 8 priest companions of the Salesian Society were victims of the Nazi persecution which, after the German occupation of Poland during World War II was unleashed with particular vehemence also against the Catholic Church. Religious engaged in pastoral and educational activities, uninvolved in the political tensions of the time, were arrested and killed simply for being Catholic priests. They are:

1) Jan Swierc was born in Krolewska (today Chorzow) on April 29, 1877. After completing his higher and theological studies among the Salesians in Italy, he was ordained in Turin in 1903. Later, he directed several Salesian houses in Poland, also carrying out the ministry of pastor. On July 8, 1938, he took over as director and pastor of the Krakow house and became a popular preacher. On May 23, 1941, he was arrested with other confreres by the Gestapo and taken to Montelupich Prison, where he was beaten and tortured. On June 26, 1941, he was transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp and killed the following day.

2) Ignacy Antonowicz, born in Wieslawice on July 14, 1890, was ordained in Rome in 1916. A teacher of theology in the Salesian studentate in Foglizzo, he was a military chaplain in the Polish army during World War I. Sent to Krakow as director of the theological studentate, he held this post until his arrest on May 23, 1941. Taken to Auschwitz, he was mistreated and beaten. He fell seriously ill and died on July 21, 1941.

3) Ignacy Dobiasz, born in Ciochowice, on January 14, 1880, was trained in Salesian studentates in Italy and was ordained in 1908. Back in Poland, he carried out pastoral and educational ministry in various localities. From 1931 he was sent as parish collaborator to Krakow. On May 23, 1941, he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where he died on June 27 following exhaustion and beatings.

4) Karol Golda, born in Tychy on December 23, 1914, studied in Salesian houses in Poland before being sent to Rome, where he was ordained in 1938. Returning to his country to teach theology in the Oswiecim studentate, he was arrested by the Gestapo on December 31, 1941. In February 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was shot on  May 14, 1942.

5) Franciszek Harazim, born in Osiny on August 22, 1885, was educated in Salesian studentates in Poland and at Ivrea, where he was ordained in 1915. He returned to his country to teach in Salesian schools and in the Salesian major seminary in Krakow. He was arrested on May 23, 1941, and taken to the Montelupich prison and later to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where, due to beatings and ill-treatment, he died on June 27,  1941.

6) Ludwik Mroczek, born in Kety on August 11, 1905, carried out his preparation for the priesthood in Poland, being ordained in 1933 and serving as a pastor in Oswięcim, Lviv, Czestochowa, and other places. Arrested on May 22, 1941, he was taken to Montelupich Prison and then to Auschwitz, where he died on January 5, 1942.

7) Wlodzmierz Szembek, born on April 22, 1883 in Poreba Zegoty, was a member of a noble family. He graduated in engineering, looking after the family estates until 1928, when he entered the Salesian aspirantate in Oswięcim. He was ordained in Kracow in 1934 and became secretary of the Salesian province. Arrested on July 9, 1942, he was imprisoned in Nowy Targ and then taken to Auschwitz, where he died on September 7, 1942.

8) Kazimierz Wojciechowski, born in Jaslo on August 16, 1904, was formed in Salesian studentates in Poland and was ordained in 1935 in Krakow. He carried out pastoral work in Daszawa and Krakow, where he was arrested on May 23, 1941. Deported to Auschwitz, he was killed on June 27, 1941.

9) Franciszek Miska, born in Swierczyniek on December 5, 1898, completed his theological studies in Turin, where he was ordained in 1927. He carried out his ministry in Salesian institutes and parishes in various localities in Poland, until he was put in charge of the Salesian institute in Lad. Arrested and taken to various prison camps, on  October 30, 1941, he was deported to Dachau, where he died on  May 30, 1942.