Xaveria Rohwedder
Sister of the Congregation of St Catherine, martyr in East Prussia
Who they were
Xaveria Rohwedder, Maria in the world, was born on 25 May 1882 at Plaßwich, now Płoskinia, in the district of Braunsberg, and in 1941 became superior of the hospital on the Andreasberg at Wormditt, now Orneta, which the abuses of the Gestapo forced her to leave for the St Josef hospital at Guttstadt, now Dobre Miasto. Persecuted by the communist authorities, she was beaten by a soldier in a cattle wagon at the station of Deutsch Eylau, now Iława, during the evacuation and died there on 25 November 1945. Pope Leo XIV beatified her on 31 May 2025.
The miracles
As a martyr she was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
The decree records that these sisters sealed their service of the needy by choosing to stay at the posts to which they had been assigned.
- Acta Apostolicae Sedis 117 (2025), p. 343 - decree on martyrdom
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - beatifications of 31 May 2025
- Wikidata R1ebf0796 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.