During the ceremony, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro recalled the influence the Salesians had on Karol Wojtyła’s vocation and presented the new blesseds as an example of fidelity to Christ even to martyrdom.
The celebration was presided over by the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, who stressed that the Church does not primarily commemorate the tragic circumstances of the new blesseds’ deaths, but rather the glory of Jesus Christ manifested in their witness.
According to the Polish Episcopal Conference, the Salesian martyrs remained faithful to their priestly vocation until the shedding of blood.
“We do not celebrate death, but the glory of Christ”
In his homily at the beatification of Jan Świerc and his eight companions, Semeraro explained that the event must be understood in the light of Christ the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep.
“We are not celebrating today the sadness of those events, but rather the glory of Jesus Christ that shines forth in the witness of these priests, sons of Saint John Bosco, who, like Christ and with Christ, gave their lives,” he stated.
The cardinal recalled that the new blesseds dedicated their ministry to the education of young people, the care of the poor, and Christian formation. When the Nazi persecution struck the Church in Poland, they remained faithful to their mission and accepted martyrdom rather than renounce it.
“Their blood, shed in a spirit of evangelical fidelity to Christ, became a true seed of peace and fraternity in such dark and violent times,” he noted.
The Salesian environment that shaped Karol Wojtyła
One of the most significant moments of the homily was the recollection of the influence the Salesians exerted on the young Karol Wojtyła before he entered the seminary.
The religious carried out their pastoral work in the parish of Saint Stanislaus Kostka in the Dębniki district, where the future John Paul II’s vocation matured. Some of the new blesseds exercised their ministry there before being arrested by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps.
Semeraro cited a passage from Gift and Mystery, in which John Paul II recalled the impact that Salesian environment had on his vocational discernment.
“I think the Salesian environment played an important role in the process of forming my vocation,” the Polish Pontiff wrote.
The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints also recalled the figure of Jan Tyranowski, the layman who spiritually accompanied Wojtyła during the German occupation and who frequented that same Salesian parish.
A message to young people
Addressing young people, Semeraro reminded them that the Church does not regard them merely as its future, but as a living presence in the present. In the face of a culture that proposes “freedom without truth, happiness without responsibility, and success without sacrifice,” the cardinal presented the Gospel as the path capable of responding to the deepest aspirations of the human heart.
“Have the courage to open your heart to the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd, in moments of uncertainty, when the future seems unclear or when you feel alone,” he exhorted.
The cardinal added one of the most striking phrases of the celebration: “The Lord does not call you to renounce your dreams, but to purify and illuminate them.”
According to him, Christ knows the wounds, the questions, and the desire to be loved that exist in every person, and it is precisely for this reason that he calls each one to an authentic life capable of becoming a gift for others.
The warning against “digital loneliness”
Addressing all the faithful, Semeraro warned about what he described as “digital loneliness,” a reality increasingly widespread in an age marked by virtual communication.
The cardinal noted that new technologies can create an illusion of closeness without replacing authentic personal relationships or the encounter with God.
“One becomes holy above all by listening to the voice of God and entering into dialogue with Him through the concrete forms that the life of the Church offers us,” he affirmed.
He also encouraged priests, religious, and laity not to be overcome by discouragement when communities go through moments of weariness or difficulty, and urged them to listen again to the voice of the Good Shepherd in order to respond courageously to Christ’s call.
At the conclusion of the celebration, Semeraro asked for prayers for peace and entrusted to the intercession of the new blesseds those who suffer the consequences of war, so that there may never be lacking men and women capable of bringing hope, love, and fraternity even in the most difficult circumstances.