Talk:Maximilian Kolbe

Patron of
Is there a more reliable source than for what is he a patron of? Some sources also suggest he is a patron of blood donors? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here 08:16, 5 September 2014 (UTC)


 * The official American shrine to Kolbe has something to say about his patronages at:http://www.marytown.com/content/who-saint-maximilian-kolbe  The St. Charles Borromeo site, which is always very accurate, comments that he is the patron saint of political prisoners at http://www.scborromeo.org/saints/maxkolbe.htm The Franciscan Media site writes that he is patron saint of addicts and drug addiction at http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1107 Catholic Culture.org which is not as reputable as the other sources listed note that Kolbe is patron saint of drug addiction; drug addicts; families; imprisoned people; journalists; political prisoners; prisoners; and the pro-life movement. That is found at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-08-14 I cannot find anything that says Kolbe has been named a patron saint for blood donors. Sorry. Taram (talk) 05:52, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion to make a good article nominee just a bit better
I met editor Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here at another editor's talk page. He kindly asked me if there is anything I would add or change from my perspective. I think this is a very well written page with really just one sentence that needs some changing to be more accurate. That sentence is the second one in the Canonization section. The sentence currently reads

"Kolbe was venerated by Pope Paul VI on 30 January 1969,beatified as a Confessor of the Faith by the same Pope in 1971 and canonized as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982.”

It is my humble opinion that the words "martyr" and "venerated" need to be changed in that sentence to be more accurate. The verb "venerated" should be changed to "declared venerable," because while technically when a person is elevated to the level of venerable, one could say that the person doing so had "venerated" the deceased person, that is too vague. With that said, though, the verb "venerated" typically means "to give honor to" as when one venerates relics, the bible, the cross, etc. When one is elevated from the status of servant of God to Venerable, one ordinarily says so-and-so was "made venerable" or "declared venerable" to distinguish the act from giving honor when venerating something.

The word "saint" should replace the word "martyr" for two reasons. First, the next sentence as well as the Controversies section clarify whether or not Kolbe is a martyr for the faith (that is "died for refusing to deny his faith"). More specifically, though, when one is canonized in the Roman Catholic Church, one is given the title "saint" in English. (There is no official route to canonize a person a martyr.) Kolbe was canonized a “saint” after the Roman Catholic Church progressed through the steps of holiness inquiries that it uses to see if he could be included in the list (a.k.a. "canon") of persons known to be in heaven enjoying the beatific vision of God. I suggest that sentence be written as follows (without the emboldened italics only used here to clarify where suggested changes are):

“Kolbe was declared venerable by Pope Paul VI on 30 January 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 10 October 1982.”

Just a thought. Taram (talk) 05:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Other minor article change suggestions
I suggested three other minor sentence changes to Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here. They are pseudo grammatical in nature and can easily be ignored without chaging meaning or accuracy.

1)I see in reading earlier posts on the talk page that some are still upset about Marian apparitions to Kolbe being mentioned. So, I suggest moving the word "child" to a later point in this sentence so the poor reader can keep his or her opinion about the nature of apparitions without deeming them infantile.

Change:

“Kolbe's life was strongly influenced by a childhood vision of the Virgin Mary that he received in 1906 in Pabianice.”

to

“Kolbe's life was strongly influenced by a vision of the Virgin Mary that he received as a child in 1906 in Pabianice.”

or even drop any mention of childhood altogether and leave the date.

2) Change

“The Immaculata friars utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional tracts, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million.”

to

"Friars working with Kolbe in the Militia Immaculata utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional tracts, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million."

This is primarily to increase clarity because the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate were not created until later.

3) Change

“The guards wanted the bunker emptied and they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid.”

to

“The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid.”

This is simply to use a clearer cause and effect type of coordinating conjuction in the sentence.

Just some more thoughts. Taram (talk) 05:22, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Death Certificate of Maximilian Kolbe
The Death Certificate of Maximilian Kolbe https://archive.org/details/SterbeurkundeVonMaximilianKolbe --105.0.22.233 (talk) 12:05, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Birth date
The German version of this article says that it is not quite clear when exactly Kolbe was born. The death certificate (mentioned above) says it was on 7 January. 46.114.142.5 (talk) 00:56, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

When was the Militia Immaculatae formed?
Can someone edit the paragraph that starts ...


 * In 1915, while still in seminary, Kolbe and six friends formed the Militia Immaculatae and four years later began publishing the magazine Knight of the Immaculate. In October 1917, Saint Maximillian Kolbe and six other friars formed the Militia Immaculata ...

... to remove the ambiguity? Was the Militia Immaculatae formed in 1915 or 1917? Matthew C. Clarke 04:28, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Reliability of Catholic sources
In the Martyrdom section, EWTN and Catholic-Pages are the sole sources used in the description of Kolbe's death, with the exception of his death date and the date of his feast day, which appears to have maybe have non-Catholic hagiographical source. The EWTN link is dead. Is there an independent, non-Catholic source for the details of Kolbe's death? Harry Sibelius (talk) 09:35, 2 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Hmmm, how about this? Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here 09:46, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately I cannot read it, because I haven't bought it. What does it say? Harry Sibelius (talk) 12:14, 2 February 2023 (UTC)