The Vatican has halted the cause for sainthood of Father Walter Ciszek, a Pennsylvania-born Jesuit priest who ministered to fellow prisoners while enduring more than 20 years of imprisonment in Russia.
Ciszek (1904–1984) is known for his spiritual writings "He Leadeth Me" and "With God in Russia," which he wrote after surviving torture by the Soviet secret police and hard labor during his imprisonment from 1941–1963.
The Vatican first approved the advancement of Ciszek's cause in 2012. Over the several decades that the cause was in progress, the Jesuits had gathered witness testimonies, writings of Ciszek, and more than 4,000 archival documents from the Jesuits and the Russian archives.
Monsignor Ronald Bocian of the Walter Ciszek Prayer League, the group advocating for Ciszek's cause, said in an April 9 letter that "the formal canonization process has been stopped."
"The diocese has been informed that the documentation relating to his cause does not support advancing his cause for beatification or sainthood," Bocian said.
"The development comes after years of careful study and discernment at the level of the Holy See, which bears the responsibility of evaluating each cause with thoroughness, integrity, and fidelity to the Church's norms," Bocian continued.
"While this news may understandably bring disappointment to many who have been inspired by Father Ciszek's example of heroic faith and have prayed for his cause, it does not diminish the enduring spiritual value of his life, witness, and legacy," Bocian said.
This is the second sainthood cause this month that the Vatican has closed. The Vatican also halted the cause of Argentinian bishop and servant of God Jorge Novak earlier this month. The Diocese of Quilmes, Argentina, said the decision expresses "no moral judgment regarding the life, virtues, and pastoral ministry" of the bishop but that it was due to him not carrying out "a possible canonical procedure" as a priest.
According to the letter from Bocian, the Prayer League advocating for Ciszek's canonization will become the "Father Walter J. Ciszek Society." Bocian said the society will "remain committed to honoring his memory, sharing his message, and encouraging devotion to the profound spiritual insights he left to the Church."
"Even as the formal canonization process has been stopped, the grace flowing from his witness remains alive in the hearts of the faithful," Bocian said.
The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, confirmed the news in a statement to EWTN News, acknowledging the "disappointment" while encouraging the faithful to remember the grace of Ciszek's life.
"This development comes as the Church evaluates each cause with thoroughness, integrity, and fidelity to its norms," read the statement from the Diocese of Allentown, which paralleled Bocian's letter.
Who was Father Walter Ciszek?
Ciszek was born in 1904 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1928 and was ordained in 1937 after being trained to say Mass in the Russian rite. After two years in Poland, he used the chaos of World War II as cover to enter the Soviet Union so that he could minister to Christians who lived under communist persecution.
Soviet authorities arrested him in 1941, believing him to be a spy. Over his decades in prison, he endured solitary confinement, torture, and years of hard labor near the Arctic Circle. Despite the dangers, he said Mass in secret and heard the confessions of other prisoners.
President John F. Kennedy negotiated the prisoner swap that led to his release in 1963. Ciszek went on to write about his spiritual insights and experience in Russia. He died at Fordham University in New York on Dec. 8, 1984. In 1990, Ciszek was declared a servant of God.
