Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/August 14

Maximilian Kolbe OFMConv (born Raymund Kolbe; Polish: Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 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 had been active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, operating an amateur-radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications. (Full article...)

Attributes: Christian Martyrdom, Prison uniform, needle being injected into an arm, the number 16670
Patronage: families, imprisoned people, journalists, political prisoners, prisoners, pro-life movement, Esperantists, Militia Immaculatae
See also: Saint Meinhard, Germany; Martyrs of Otranto; Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia