Saint Maximilian Kolbe commemorated as martyr of charity

The Catholic Church commemorates Saint Maximilian Kolbe on August 14, honoring the Polish Franciscan priest recognized as a martyr of charity. Born in 1894, Kolbe was a prolific missionary and publisher who founded the Militia Immaculatae and established the Niepokalanów religious center near Warsaw. He also conducted missionary work in Japan.

During World War II, Kolbe was arrested by the Nazis and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In July 1941, following an escape attempt by another prisoner, Nazi authorities selected ten men to be executed by starvation as a retaliatory measure. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, pleaded for his wife and children, Kolbe stepped forward and volunteered to die in his place.

Kolbe was imprisoned in a starvation bunker, where he reportedly provided spiritual comfort to his fellow inmates through prayer and song. He died on August 14, 1941, after two weeks of starvation, following a lethal injection administered by camp guards. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982.