Family of Fr. Emil Kapaun continues hope for sainthood amid celebration of new pope

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - As the world celebrates the first American pope, a Wichita family continues to wait patiently as a spiritually leading relative who died more than 70 years ago approaches sainthood. The Kapaun family is waiting for the canonization process for Fr. Emil Kapaun to reach the finish line. Simply put, canonization is the church’s process for declaring someone a saint.

Toward their hope of seeing Fr. Kapaun honored so highly in their faith, the Kapaun family said the newly elected pope, Leo XIV, is another positive sign. In February, Fr. Kapaun was declared venerable by the late Pope Francis. This moves the Pilsen, Kansas native who served as a U.S. Army chaplain during World War II and the Korean War within one step of canonization.

Kapaun died in a Korean POW camp on May 23, 1951. His remains were located in March 2021 in Hawaii and returned to Kansas in September of that same year. They are entombed in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Wichita.

“To get that phone call to say, ‘You know, we’ve identified your uncle’s remains,’ to this day, I still think I am going to wake up and be like, ‘Ah heck, it was all just a big dream,’” said Fr. Emil Kapaun’s nephew, Ray Kapaun. “It was amazing to have happened. Ever since we brought Father home, there [are] just so many things that seem to be kind of falling into place.”

Kapaun was declared a Servant of God in 1993, the first step toward sainthood. He was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor for his heroism in 2013.

Copyright 2025 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]