Robaird O’Cearbhaill
Hong Kong Correspondent
Beatified at the end of November is Fr Jan Macha, an addition to the 108 World War 2 Blessed Polish martyrs, killed by the Nazis. Pope John Paul II beatified them in Warsaw in June 1999.
“The witness of Jan Franciszek Macha, now blessed, to the Lord Jesus is a truly heroic page of faith and charity,” said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who presided at the beatification at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Katowice, southwest Poland.
Macha was arrested in 1941 only for helping those in wartime distress. His humility, faith and spiritual concern for them , were clear in his final letter to his family. “Stay with God! Forgive me for everything,” he said. “I am going before the Almighty Judge who will judge me now. I hope that He will accept me. My wish was to work for Him, but it was not given to me. Thank you for everything!”
Macha added: “I die with a clear conscience. I have lived a short life, but I believe that I have achieved my goal. Don’t despair! Everything will be alright.”
Cardinal Semeraro said also: “He too died, just like the grain of wheat: he was killed by a Nazi system full of hatred for those who were sowing good, in order to show the people of today that earthly dominion is passing away, while the Kingdom of Christ — which, as its supreme law, has the commandment of charity — endures.”
Archbishop Skworc, of Katowice, issued a pastoral letter concerning Macha soon before the beatification.“As the community of the Church of Katowice, we gratefully welcome the new blessed as a martyr for merciful love, as a gift of Divine Providence for today and tomorrow, as a call and a reminder of the vocation to holiness,” he said.
“Fr Jan Franciszek as a victim of persecution and war makes us aware of its deadly effects. May his tragic death inspire and encourage us to work for the strengthening of peace and reconciliation, especially between Poles and Germans. The fates of these nations met in an exceptionally dramatic way in the death of Fr. Jan.”
Macha was arrested in November 1941 and jailed. At his trial he was sentenced to the death penalty, and beheaded by guillotine in in December 1942 after a year in prison
The great majority of the 108 Polish martyrs of World War 2 were religious figures: “Three bishops, 52 priests, 26 members of male religious orders, 3 seminarians, 8 religious sisters and 9 lay people,” uCatholic states. Most were killed in the notorious Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps.
Around 10% of Polish Catholic priests were killed by the Nazis during the war. (Photo: John Paul II Foundation – fjp2.com)
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