Fifteen Roman Catholic nuns have been officially recognised as martyrs and beatified in Poland, 80 years after they were brutally killed by Soviet troops during World War II.

The women, all members of the Order of St Catherine the Virgin-Martyr, were honoured during a beatification mass in Braniewo.

Their deaths occurred in 1945 as the Red Army advanced through Poland.

Some were raped or shot; others died from beatings or were dragged behind military vehicles, according to Church Times.

Many were buried in unmarked graves or died in labour camps.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, who led the service, described the nuns as victims of a regime that showed “no respect” for human dignity.

He said: “They all gave supreme witness of faith in the context of an ideological struggle that sowed persecution and death, violence and destruction in the Europe of their time.”

The Pope also paid tribute to the women, noting from Rome that they continued to care for “the sick and orphaned despite a climate of hatred and of terror”.

He said: their courage reflects the quiet, sacrificial service of many religious sisters around the world today.

More than 100 members of the order are believed to have died during the war.