Before I start, I would like to thank Scott Carter & everyone at the Office for Beatification of Ven. Kapaun for their support in this and for photos. information, and most of all, their prayers. 

Father Kapaun's Childhood was like any other boy in the post WW1 time period. Work & school. Fr. Kapaun grew up in Pilsen, Kansas a small farming community 60 miles northeast of Wichita. People who remember him say he was cheerful, humble and always ready to lend a helping hand to others. From a young age, Fr. Kapaun felt called to the Priesthood and to dedicate his life fully to God. Venerable Kapaun was ordained a priest in 1940 for the Diocese of Wichita. But Kapaun wasn't called to parish ministry for long, as war was waged across the world, his firm belief was soldiers needed priests alongside them to minister the sacraments, say mass, and pray with them. He joined the Army as a chaplain during World War II and later served in the Korean War. 

In Korea, Father Kapaun quickly became beloved by the soldiers around him. He celebrated Mass wherever he could in tents, bunkers, muddy fields, or on the hood of his jeep. He heard confessions in the middle of battle and prayed beside wounded men as bullets flew overhead. What made Father Kapaun stand out was that he never seemed to think about his own safety. Soldiers watched him run across battlefields to rescue injured men, often dragging them to safety himself. Many said his courage inspired them to keep going when they felt hopeless. Then came the Battle of Unsan in 1950. Enemy forces overwhelmed American troops, and Father Kapaun was captured alongside hundreds of soldiers. Even though he had chances to escape, he refused to leave behind the wounded. The men were forced to march hundreds of miles in the freezing weather with little food or drink. Yet through it all, Father Kapaun shared his food, offered prayers, and became a light and hope for the troops. 

Life inside the prison camp was awful. Disease spread quickly, men dropped dead every day, and hunger was constant. And through it all, Father Kapaun was still being a priest. Tending to the wounded and sick as much as he could and offering reflections and prayers in secret when he could, the men imprisoned with him later said Father Kapaun became the reason many of them survived. In a place filled with suffering, he gave people hope. Eventually, months of starvation and illness destroyed his health. In May of 1951, Father Kapaun was taken to the prison camp’s infirmary after becoming seriously sick. Before leaving, he told the men around him not to worry and said he was going where he had always wanted to go. Soon afterward, Father Emil Kapaun died at only thirty-five years old. The soldiers who came home never forgot him. 

In 1993, he was officially proclaimed 'Servant of God and his Cause for Canonization was opened and in 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Fr. Kapaun the nation's highest award the Medal of Honor and in early 2025 the ailing Pope Francis declared Kapaun a Venerable, one more step towards sainthood.  As a part of our mission we will be giving out Fr. Kapaun cards touched to his tomb, email us if you would like one! I urge you all to pray for his canonization and adopt the cause to your daily prayer.