Church beatifies 50 French Catholics murdered by Nazis

Caroline De Sury, OSV News

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Fifty French Catholics killed under German Nazism were beatified Saturday, during a Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, an event that recognized their witness of faith during World War II. Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter that formalized the proclamation of the blesseds, and also set their liturgical memorial as May 5, stated that the martyrs “did not fear to offer their own lives to the point of shedding their blood to bear witness to the consolation and comfort of the Gospel,” and “shall henceforth be called Blessed.”