Pilsen ? The Catholic Diocese of Wichita has approved renovating a church in a nearly deserted town because someday the church may be a shrine to a saint.

On almost any weekday, the work at the St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church is about the only sign of life in this Marion County town, which is so small that census figures don’t report a population for it.

Nonetheless, the Catholic Diocese of Wichita approved the renovation which will total at least $200,000 – because of its heritage and its potential as a shrine to Emil Kapaun.

Kapaun was born and raised on a farm south of Pilsen. He became a priest who worked at his home parish and went on to serve with such distinction as a military chaplain that soldiers who knew him are promoting his case for canonization.

“If Father Kapaun wasn’t in the picture, I don’t know what would happen,” said the Rev. Steve Gronert, pastor of Holy Family Parish, which encompasses three churches in Marion County. The parish is paying for the improvements.

The renovation would make little sense if it were based simply on numbers. Even at its peak decades ago, Pilsen was never large. The town had perhaps 100 residents then, but neighboring farms were so numerous that its parish had a parochial school serving grades K-10, a convent and two priests.

But now Marion County’s population of 13,000 is half what it was 50 years ago, and those who remain are growing older: The county’s median age of 40.1 is among the highest in the state.

But statistics don’t speak to the value of the Wichita diocese’s rural parishes and its agricultural heritage, Bishop Thomas Olmsted said.

“We never want to forget that while the parishes are getting smaller, they remain a very important part of our church not only historically, but also presently,” Olmsted said.

Pilsen’s church is “a crown jewel” of the diocese, he said, because of its art and architecture. Its stained glass windows are inscribed in the Czech language of the town’s settlers, and restorer Don Wendt said the stations of the cross are so large and intricate they look like something normally found in a cathedral.

The renovation is also an expression of the parish’s faith in its future, Olmsted said, and its pride in the accomplishments of a local boy.

Kapaun was nicknamed “the shepherd in combat boots” for his selfless service on behalf of soldiers during the Korean War. He refused to retreat in the face of an enemy counter-attack in November 1950, choosing instead to tend wounded soldiers even though it meant certain capture.

The care he gave prisoners kept morale up and hope alive, even after he died in a Chinese prisoner of war camp in 1951. Soldiers who served with Kapaun described him as a saint, and the cause for canonization has been gaining momentum in recent years.

A statue commemorating Kapaun was dedicated next to the church in Pilsen last summer. The farm house where he was born and raised has been moved into town north of the church and sculpture.

Already, Gronert said, he’s getting a call or two every week from people outside of Kansas asking about Kapaun.

“We’re not trying to play God,” Gronert said. “Whether he’s declared a saint or not, a lot of people are interested in Father Kapaun.”