Jan Macha
Polish Catholic priest, martyr, blessed
Feast: 2 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 28 November 2019 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2019)
Who they were
Jan Franciszek Macha was born at Chorzów, Poland, on 18 January 1914 and ordained for the diocese of Katowice. He began his ministry at St Joseph's, Ruda Śląska, just as Germany invaded Poland.
Visiting families at Christmas 1939, he saw the misery of those whose men had been arrested, shot or sent to camps, and organised material and spiritual help for them. Condemned to death on a pretext of high treason, he was guillotined at Katowice on 3 December 1942, aged 28.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young priest put to death for helping the families of the persecuted.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Giovanni Francesco Macha
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q16561549 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Jan Franciszek Macha (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.