A Kansas Catholic priest is one step closer to sainthood. Pope Francis has officially declared Father Emil Kapaun a Venerable. Two alleged miracles are credited to Kapaun, who died in a prisoner of war camp while serving as a chaplain in the Korean War.

Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, served as a chaplain with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during the Korean War and was listed as a POW near Unsay on November 2, 1950, with a reported date of death of May 23, 1951.

In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Chaplain Kapaun a Servant of God, the first stage on the path to canonization in the Catholic Church. In 2013, Chaplain Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his service.

Kapaun Chapel, located on Normandy Drive, Fort Riley’s Custer Hill, is named after the Kansas native. The facility, originally constructed 1959 as Custer Hill Chapel, was dedicated Nov. 5, 2001 in Kapaun’s memory.

Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Thomas L. Solhjem, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, said, “Father Kapaun lived the call, ‘caring for the Soul of the Army,’ with extraordinary courage, faith, and leadership.”