Maximilian Kolbe
Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFMConv (1894-1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He was active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, running an amateur radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running a number of other organizations and publications. He is considered among the most important historical figures in Poland.
On 10 October 1982, Pope John Paul II canonized Kolbe and declared him a martyr of charity. The Catholic Church regards him as the patron saint of amateur radio operators, drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, and prisoners. John Paul II referred to him as "the patron of our difficult century."
Kolbe is known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary because of his efforts to promote consecration and entrustment to Mary.
Kolbe was declared venerable by Pope Paul VI on January 30, 1969, beatified as a Confessor of the Faith by the same Pope in 1971, and canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. Upon canonization, the Pope declared Maximilian Kolbe to be a confessor and a martyr of charity.
Maximilian Kolbe's feast day was added to the General Roman Calendar after his canonization. He is one of ten twentieth-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of London's Anglican Westminster Abbey. On August 14, the Church of England commemorated Maximilian Kolbe with a service.
