Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children, who were slain by Nazis for sheltering Jews, were beatified in Markowa, Poland, on September 10.
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, presided at the beatification Mass. Some 30,000 people, including the Polish president and prime minister, were in attendace.
“Today in Markowa, Poland, the martyrs Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, with their seven children, were beatified: an entire family exterminated by the Nazis on 24 March 1944 for having given shelter to some persecuted Jews,” Pope Francis said. “They opposed the hatred and violence that characterized that time with evangelical love. May this Polish family, which represents a ray of light in the darkness of the Second World War, be for all of us a model to imitate in the zeal for goodness and service to those in need.”
“The extreme sacrifice of the Ulma family recalls the debt that humanity owes this family and all Righteous Among the Nations who stood up to evil to the extent of losing their lives,” said Raphael Schutz, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See. “Their sacrifice lights the path that we all should follow and should not be used for any kind of historical revisionism.”