Pope Leo XIV on Friday approved the beatification of 11 "martyr" priests killed by the Nazi or Communist regimes in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, putting them close to sainthood.

They include Jan Swierc and eight other Polish Salesian priests persecuted between 1941 and 1942 "out of hatred for the faith" in Nazi camps at Auschwitz and Dachau, a Vatican statement said.

The Holy See's official media, Vatican News, named the others as Ignacy Antonowicz, Ignacy Dobiasz, Karol Golda, Franciszek Harazim, Ludwik Mroczek, Wlodzimierz Szembek, Kazimierz Wojciechowski and Franciszek Miska.

"Uninvolved in the political tensions of the time, they were arrested simply because they were Catholic priests," it said.

"The special fury reserved for the Polish clergy, who were insulted and persecuted, c

See Full Page