Synod of Polish Church decides to canonize Katyn martyrs

On March 18, 2025, a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church was held in Warsaw. Among the issues considered at the meeting of the Synod, it was decided to canonize the Katyn martyrs. This is reported by the official website of the POC.

«Today, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Orthodox independence, recalling the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II; based on the Holy Tradition, having studied the materials about the life and death of our brothers and sisters who died in Katyn and other places of death and resettlement:

«The Holy Council of Bishops of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, canonizes them as saints and inscribes them in the diptych of the Saints of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church:

Priest Protopresbyter Colonel Simon Fedorenko,

Priest Lt. Colonel Victor Romanovsky,

Priest Major Wlodzimierz Ochab,

Clergy and laity whose names we know and do not know. Only Almighty God knows them. To hold the ceremony of canonization of the Katyn martyrs on September 17, 2025, and to establish this day as a day of their prayerful commemoration,» — the Synod’s statement reads.

Earlier, the Primate of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, congratulated the head of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Archbishop John, on his election as Primate. Metropolitan Sawa assured Archbishop John of his support and prayers.