Pope Francis asks for the intercession of Blessed Father Michał Rapacz for peace in the world

In the General Audience this Wednesday, June 19, Pope Francis remembered Father Michał Rapacz, a Polish Catholic priest of the 20th century murdered by the communist authorities who was beatified last June 15.

The ceremony took place at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Krakow-Łagiewniki (Poland), after the Holy Father recognized his martyrdom in the month of January.

During his greetings to Polish-speaking pilgrims this Wednesday, Pope Francis cast his gaze on this new blessed, “martyr of communism.”

The Pontiff asked that “his testimony become a sign of God’s consolation in these times marked by wars.”

“May his example teach us to be faithful to God, to respond to evil with good, to contribute to the construction of a fraternal and peaceful world. Blessed Father Michał, intercede for Poland and for peace in the world!” exclaimed the Pontiff.

Cardinal Semeraro traveled from Rome to celebrate the beatification in Krakow. He pronounced the beatification formula before a sanctuary packed with about 1,800 people, among them Fr. Rapacz’s great-grandnephews, Karolina Basista and Michał Pietrzak.

It should be remembered that the 41-year-old priest was shot twice by the communist authorities on the night of May 10-11, 1946, after having been transferred from the parish of his town, in southern Poland, to a nearby forest.

Father Rapacz was recognized as a martyr, according to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, for his refusal to abandon his parish or abandon his pastoral ministry, despite the prohibition of the celebration of Catholic liturgies and activities under the Polish occupations. by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.