János Brenner
Hungarian Cistercian and Catholic martyr (1931–1957)
Feast: 15 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 8 November 2017 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2017)
Who they were
János Brenner was born at Szombathely, Hungary, on 27 December 1931 into a deeply Catholic family. A Cistercian novice from 1950, when the order was suppressed he continued his novitiate and studies in secret, and later became a diocesan priest.
After only two and a half years of ministry, on the night of 15 December 1957 he was lured from the presbytery at Rábakethely with a false call to bring Viaticum to a dying man and stabbed thirty-two times. When his body was found, he was still clutching the pyx with the Eucharist. He is called 'the Hungarian Tarcisius'.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young priest killed on his way to a sick call, still holding the Blessed Sacrament.
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: János Brenner
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q653023 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — János Brenner (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.