Václav Drbola
Czech Roman Catholic priest (1912–1951)
Feast: 17 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Václav Drbola, a Czech diocesan priest, was born on 16 October 1912 near Hustopeče u Brna and ordained in 1938. As a popular and capable priest at Bučovice he organised Catholic youth and parish associations and restored the church organ; after the 1948 communist takeover he came under close surveillance for his public activities, and in 1950 was sent as administrator to the parish of Babice, replacing an arrested priest.
There he sheltered a fugitive parishioner, an opponent of the regime, and was drawn by a police provocation posing as a Western agent into a fabricated conspiracy case built against him and others. He was arrested and tortured, but accepted his fate with unshaken faith and trust in God's will. Pope Leo XIV recognised his martyrdom on 24 October 2025, and he was beatified on 6 June 2026; his liturgical memory is kept on 17 June.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
Czech priest tortured and executed by the communist regime on a fabricated conspiracy charge; beatified 2026, liturgical memory 17 June.
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
- Jan Bula Blessed“The Catholic Church venerates him as a blessed martyr and will commemorate him together with Václav Drbola every year on June 17.” — Wikipedia
- Santi, beati e testimoni (santiebeati.it) - Beato Václav Drbola
- Wikidata Q11985446 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.