Wichita ? Supporters of sainthood for a Kansas-born Catholic priest who died a prisoner of war in Korea have started a formal campaign to raise money and gather the information the Vatican requires for canonization.

The Catholic Diocese of Wichita has endorsed the cause of the Rev. Emil Kapaun.

Church officials do not know how long the project will last or what it will cost, said the Rev. Robert Hemberger, chancellor of the Wichita Diocese.

“There is a groundswell of interest,” Hemberger said. “The people seem to have gotten onto it. Maybe God is wanting something here.”

Kapaun grew up near Pilsen, attended Catholic school in Missouri, served his home church in Pilsen, then went off to war as a military chaplain.

He died in 1951 at a POW camp and apparently was buried in a mass grave near the Yalu River. He was 35.

As veterans returned from the war, they began telling how they owed their lives to Kapaun.

A 1954 article in The Saturday Evening Post described his exploits, braving enemy fire to rescue soldiers, staying with wounded men, being captured when he could have escaped and giving his food to fellow POWs.

Gradually, talk of sainthood arose and in recent years intensified as Kapaun received more and more publicity.

“The interest in Father Kapaun has mushroomed around the country,” said Rose Mary Neuwirth, an admirer of the priest who lives in Pilsen. “More people are coming forward.”

Ten years ago the Catholic Church named Kapaun a servant of God, an initial step in the process. However, neither the Wichita Diocese nor the Archdiocese for the Military Services in Washington formally launched the canonization.

Now, with the Wichita Diocese volunteering to do so, that hurdle has been overcome.

The Rev. John Hotze, a Newton priest overseeing the project, said tradition and standards set by the Vatican dictated some of how the campaign would proceed.

Backers will interview anyone who knew the priest, examine his writings and develop an account of his entire life. There is a sense of urgency, because many of the soldiers who knew Kapaun in Korea are aging.

Lawyers with knowledge of Catholic Church workings will be hired.

Ultimately, a paper will be written and sent to Rome to promote the canonization of Kapaun, Hotze said.