Richard Henkes
German Roman Catholic priest, martyr and blessed (1900–1945)
Feast: 21 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 21 December 2018 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2018)
Who they were
Richard Henkes was born at Ruppach, near Limburg, Germany, on 26 May 1900, and grew up in a strongly Catholic setting. He became a Pallottine priest and taught in the schools at Vallendar and Alpen.
He fought the Nazi system from the start and always served the neediest. Sent to Dachau as prisoner 49642, in the priests' barrack 26 he kept up his work of evangelisation, and died there in 1945.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Pallottine who judged Nazism by his faith and went on serving others in Dachau.
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.
Connected on this site
- Josef Beran Servant of God“It was during that time that he befriended Josef Beran (future cardinal) who taught him the Czech language.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Richard Henkes
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q71226 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Richard Henkes (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.