Interfaith Group

To qualify as a martyr, one must be killed in odium fidei -- hatred of the faith. I am thinking, however, of one example where that was rather blatantly violated.

In 1941, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv. was a prisoner at Auschwitz. Three prisoners had escaped, and the camp commandant said that ten prisoners were to be chosen at random, shut up in a hut, and starved to death pour encourager les autres. One of the selected prisoners, Franciszek Gajowniczek, objected that he had a wife and children. Kolbe volunteered to take his place. The SS officer present said essentially, "It makes no difference to me which prisoner goes into the hut." After three weeks, the survivors were injected with carbolic acid.

Now, while Kolbe's death was an ultimate act of self-sacrifice, it was not a martyrdom. Yet John Paul II had him canonized as a martyr, and waffled about him being "a martyr of charity". In short, JPII wanted Kolbe canonized, and broke the rules to get it done.

Incidentally, Gajowniczek was present at the canonization ceremony.