On 13 December 2025, 50 French martyrs were beatified at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, representing Pope Leo XIV.

Among them are 33 young people belonging to the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne (JOC –Christian Workers’ Youth) or to the “Scouts of France”, three seminarians, nine diocesan priests, four young Franciscans, and one Jesuit: Fr Victor Dillard – the oldest of the 50. All of them were subjected to forced labour in Germany in 1943 under the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO –Compulsory Work Service) and were later arrested for their involvement in clandestine pastoral activity under a Nazi decree. Most were transferred to concentration camps, where they died in 1944 or 1945 out of hatred for the faith.

Fr Victor Dillard was born in Blois on 24 December 1897. His nine siblings, among whom was a nun, received a good education. At the end of his secondary school in 1914, he entered military service, following the example of two of his brothers. He completed the First World War as a lieutenant and was noted for his courage and leadership.

In 1919, while serving with the French Army in Włocławek (Poland), Fr Dillard underwent a decisive spiritual moment. Before a statue of Christ, he promised chastity and expressed his desire to become a Jesuit. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in November that same year.

In 1921, after pronouncing his vows, Victor Dillard began a long career as an educator. He taught in five colleges, especially at Sainte-Geneviève in Versailles. He studied theology at Lyon-Fourvière and later in Innsbruck (Austria). He was ordained a priest in Blois on 29 June 1931. During his Tertianship at Paray-le-Monial (1934-1935), he completed his first book, Au Dieu inconnu (To the Unknown God), a volume of spiritual and theological reflection drawn from his personal experience.

Already before his philosophical training, Fr Dillard showed strong interest in the social doctrine of the Church, international law, and political economy. In 1937, he was assigned to Action Populaire (Popular Action) in Vanves (Paris), a Jesuit centre dedicated to social research and formation. During this time, he became acquainted with the world of workers and the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne. After a stay in the United States in 1938, he wrote two books on young students and on workers in that country.

Back in France and once again mobilized into the army, he was captured by the Germans in 1940 but still managed to give retreats and social courses for officers. He escaped and was assigned to Vichy, where, for three years, he was involved in spreading social formation and denouncing Nazism, Communism, and anti-Semitism.

In March 1943, the laws of the Service du Travail Obligatoire were applied, sending men aged 21 to 23 to work for Germany. The French Church then chose to accompany them in their Christian life. At his own request, Fr Dillard was assigned by his Provincial to go to Germany as an underground priest. Under the guise of a worker, he was sent to Wuppertal, where he worked as a labourer but still managed to be present in industrial districts among young Catholics. Seven months later, he was denounced, imprisoned, abused, and finally deported in 1944 to the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.

In Dachau, Fr Dillard contracted a generalized infection after the amputation of a leg. He died on 12 January 1945.

Throughout his life, Fr Dillard was an educator at the service of young people. He always sought to ensure that school discipline was accepted by students, rather than imposed by force or punishment. As an intellectual, he authored six books and several hundred articles within a relatively short ministry. His intellectual activity was nourished by his contacts with the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne and the working class, whom he accompanied until the end.

His last annual Spiritual Exercises in September 1943 reveal a clear awareness of the danger he faced, but without fear of death, he reaffirmed that his life had already been given once and for all. He was arrested on Good Shepherd Sunday, and he noted that the Good Shepherd – with whom he identifies – must give his life for his sheep.

In one of his letters when he was about to be taken to Dachau in November 1944, he confesses that he has given his whole life to God and that God will do as He pleases. And he exhorts his friends: “Remain steadfast Christians and love Christ with all your strength. He is the foundation of everything and the solution to all problems. It is He who will be victorious.”

The example of Fr Victor Dillard places before the Church a Jesuit who united intellectual rigor with social engagement and pastoral courage. May his example continue to inspire us all!