On 15 June 2024, the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Cracow witnessed the ceremony of the beatification of Fr. Rapacz. The Mass was attended by Deputy President of the IPN Mateusz Szpytma, Ph.D.
He was an extremely brave man, although it was not the courage that would result in heroic deeds. It was the courage in proclaiming the truth. During German occupation, on Hitler's birthday, he refused to hang German flags in the temple. And then came 1945 and another enslavement, the communist one. At that time, too, Father Rapacz courageously spoke out about what is holiness, and what is sin. What is the truth, what is a lie, what is good and what is evil, commented Mateusz Szpytma on Father Michał Rapacz.
In January 2024, Pope Francis acknowledged Father Michał Rapacz's martyrdom. The 41-year-old priest was shot twice by communist officials in the evening of 10 May 1946, after being taken from his rural parish in southern Poland to a nearby forest.
Cardinal Semeraro, the Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, came from Rome to attend the beatification ceremony in Cracow. He proclaimed the words for beatification in front of a crowded shrine of around 1,800 people, including Rapacz's great-great niece and nephew, Karolina Basista and Michał Pietrzak.
From the celebration of the Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, [Rapacz] drew inner strength and energy, capable of transforming life and the world, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro said in his homily at the beatification Mass.
Fr. Rapacz was declared a martyr by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for his steadfast attitude to his parish and pastoral duties during German and Soviet Union occupations of Poland, amid restrictions on Catholic practices.
While facing persecution from communist officials for his dedicated work with parishioners, the priest declared during one of his preaching: Even if it costs me my life, I will continue to preach the Gospel and not deny my suffering.
Even if it costs me my life, I will continue to preach the Gospel and not deny my suffering.
Fr. Michał Rapach
During his sermon, Semeraro highlighted the strong spiritual beliefs of the new blessed, noting his routine of praying each night in front of the tabernacle at his church.
According to the newly blessed, spreading love for Christ, present in the consecrated bread, was the only effective remedy against atheism, materialism, and all those worldviews that threaten human dignity.