Anna Kolesarova to Be Beatified at Lokomotiva Stadium on Sept 1

Kosice, April 25 (TASR) – The beatification of Anna Kolesarova, a decree of whose martyrdom was approved by Pope Francis last month, will take place at the Lokomotiva football stadium in Kosice on September 1, with Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB in attendance, Kosice Metropolitan Archbishop Bernard Bober announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

Bober noted that the story of Anna Kolesarova from the village of Vysoka nad Uhom (Kosice region) was rather unknown before the fall of communism in 1989. “She was shot and killed by a Soviet soldier [in 1944] as she was attempting to preserve her chastity and dignity,” said Bober.

According to vice-postulator of Kolesarova’s cause Juraj Jurica, 38 witnesses were heard as part of the process, which has produced a 650-page document.

The remains of Kolesarova, who was killed as 16-year-old, are due to be exhumed in Vysoka nad Uhom later this week, before being put on display permanently in the Saint Elisabeth Dome in Kosice and the parish church in her native village.