Róża Czacka
Polish religious sister (1876-1961)
Feast: 19 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 9 October 2017 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2017)
- 27 October 2020 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2020)
Who they were
Róża Czacka was born into a Polish noble family on 22 October 1876 and lost her sight as a young woman. She devoted her life to blind people, and in 1918 founded the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross, taking the name Elżbieta.
At Laski, near Warsaw, she built a centre for the education of the blind that still runs today. She died there on 15 May 1961.
The miracles
Karolina Gawrych, a seven-year-old girl — Warsaw, Poland — 2010
A girl was seriously injured when a swing she was playing on collapsed and its overhead beam fell on her. She lay in a coma with severe skull and brain injuries, and recovered through Mother Czacka's intercession. At 18 she carried the relics to the altar at the beatification.
She was beatified in Warsaw on the same day as Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. One more approved miracle is needed for canonisation.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of Karolina Gawrych, a seven-year-old girl was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 27 October 2020, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 12 September 2021 by a delegate of Pope Francis.
Connected on this site
- Stefan Wyszyński Saint“She was beatified in Warsaw on the same day as Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński.” — this site's research
- Stefano Wyszyński Venerable“Pope Francis looked forward at a general audience to his beatification together with Mother Elżbieta Róża Czacka.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - decree of 27 Oct 2020
- Catholic World Report / CNA, Sep 2021 - miracle recipients to attend beatification
- John Paul II Foundation - testimony of the women healed
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q9325783 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Róża Czacka (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.