6 beatification causes advance, including 2 priests martyred by Nazis
November 25, 2025
In an audience with the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved the promulgation of six decrees.
By approving two decrees of martyrdom, Pope Leo paved the way for the beatifications of
- Father Ubaldo Marchioni (1918-1944), a priest of the Archdiocese of Bologna, Italy; he was killed at the high altar by Nazi SS troops
- Father Martino Capelli, SCJ (1912-1944), a Dehonian priest slain by Nazi SS troops during the Marzabotto massacre
The Pontiff also approved four decrees of heroic virtue, thus permitting four servants of God to be styled venerable:
- Archbishop Enrico Bartoletti of Lucca, Italy (1916-1976)
- Father Gaspare Goggi, FDP (1877-1908), an early priest of St. Luigi Orione’s Sons of Divine Providence
- Sister Mary Glowrey, JMJ (Mary of the Sacred Heart), an Australian missionary and medical doctor who served in India
- Maria de Lourdes Guarda (1926-1996), a Brazilian laywoman who was national coordinator of the Christian Fraternity of the Disabled
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Further information:
- Promulgation of Decrees of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, 21.11.2025 (Holy See Press Office)
- Two Italian priests martyred under Nazism in 1944 to be beatified (Vatican News, 11/21/25)
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