9 Salesians Recognized as Martyrs

Salesians Fr. Jan Swierc and 8 Companions Recognized as Martyrs

(ANS – Rome – October 24, 2025) — On October 24, 2025, Pope Leo XIV received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. During the audience, the Holy Father authorized the dicastery to promulgate the decree concerning:

- the martyrdom of the Servants of God Jan Swierc and eight companions, professed priests of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco, killed between 1941 and 1942, in hatred of the faith, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz (Poland) and Dachau (Germany).

This represents the recognition of the martyrdom of 9 Servants of God, Polish priests of the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians), who died between June 27, 1941, and September 7, 1942. During the Nazi period, all carried out their ministry in Poland, devoted to pastoral or teaching activities. Eight of them belonged to the Salesian Krakow Province and were arrested, tortured, and killed in Auschwitz; Fr. Franciszek Miska belonged to the Pila Province and died in Dachau.

They are listed in the order proposed by the Positio:

1. Fr. Ignacy Antonowicz, aged 51, professor and rector of the Salesian Theological Studentate in Krakow, died in Auschwitz on July 21, 1941, following ill-treatment.
2. Fr. Karol Golda, 27, the youngest of the group, theology teacher at the Salesian Institute of Oswiecim, shot on May 14, 1942, in Auschwitz for having heard the confessions of two German soldiers.
3. Fr. Wlodzimierz Szembek, 59, who entered religious life as a mature man and was ordained at 51, assistant parish priest in Skawa, died in Auschwitz on September 7, 1942, after being tortured.
4. Fr. Franciszek Harazim, 56, principal of the high school in Oswiecim and theology professor at the Salesian major seminary in Krakow, killed in Auschwitz on June 27, 1941.
5. Fr. Ludwig Mroczek, 36, who worked in various parishes, the last being Czestochowa, died in Auschwitz on January 5, 1942, after suffering torture.
6. Fr. Jan Swierc, 64, the oldest and leader of the group, director of the Salesian Theological Studentate and pastor in Krakow, killed on July 21, 1941, in Auschwitz.
7. Fr. Ignacy Dobiasz, 61, confessor and parish collaborator in Krakow, died in Auschwitz on June 27, 1941, due to abuse and inhuman labor.
8. Fr. Kazimierz Wojciechowski, 37, music and mathematics teacher, director of the oratory and of the Catholic Youth Association in Krakow, killed on June 27, 1941, in Auschwitz.
9. Fr. Franciszek Miska, 43, native of Upper Silesia, parish priest and director of the Salesian Institute of Lad, which the Gestapo transformed into a prison for priests from the dioceses of Wloclawek and Gniezno-Poznan, died of exhaustion on May 30, 1941, in the Dachau concentration camp.

For all the Servants of God, the evidence of their heroic acceptance of martyrdom is clear. Amid persecution against the Church, they were aware of the danger they faced. Other priests had already been arrested and killed. Despite being urged by relatives and friends to flee the country, they remained with the faithful—especially the young—whom they continued to guide with prudence and serenity. During imprisonment and even at the hour of death, after enduring all sorts of abuse, they preserved their faith, entrusting themselves to the Lord. None showed bitterness toward their tormentors, and in some cases, words of forgiveness were uttered in their regard. Their martyrdom was the culmination of virtuous lives lived in service to God and in fidelity to the Salesian charism.

“For the Salesian Congregation, for the whole Salesian Family, for the Church of God in Poland, this is news that fills hearts with joy in this Holy Year of Hope,” recalled the postulator general for the causes of the saints of the Salesian Family, Fr. Cameroni. “These Servants of God are shining examples of deep and compelling faith, to the point of shedding their blood, capable of inspiring today’s faithful toward an authentic Christian life.”

[Blogger's note: The Krakow Salesians were Karol Wojtyla's parish priests at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.]