Missionaries Killed

EUROPE/BELARUS - Jesuits and Salesians celebrate the memory of Father Stanisław Michalski, murdered at Christmas 1950

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Višnevo (Agenzia Fides) - On Friday, July 13, in Višnevo, a Belarusian town near the border with Lithuania, the new tomb where the remains of Father Stanisław Michalski SJ, a Polish Jesuit who died as a martyr at Christmas 1950, was blessed. For some time, people had wanted to give the priest a more important burial, in order to remember and make known to new generations the figure of a man who directly experienced persecution under the Nazis, then under the Communists, and who chose to remain until the end with the people entrusted to his pastoral care, as we read on the new tombstone: "I have an ardent desire: that of continuing to resist here, even if it is very difficult, I want to resist to the end, like the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep" (excerpt from a letter from Father Michalski to the provincial, dated January 28, 1946).
The rite of blessing of the tomb and the Eucharistic celebration which preceded it saw the participation of the Jesuits Viktor Zhuk, parish priest of St Vladislav in Vitebsk, and Ryszard Matejuk, invited for a few days from Poland; the Salesian priests Artur Leszniewski, responsible for making Father Stanisław Michalski known, and Paweł Szczerbicki, responsible for the Salesian mission in Belarus, as well as two members of the Belarusian diocesan clergy: Father Iosif Mel'djuk, vicar of the Visitation parish of Mary in Višnevo, and Father Vadim Survila, from Vojstam.
The project of the new tomb was supervised by Father Artur Leszniewski SDB, whose vocation was born at the burial place of Father Stanisław Michalski, as he recalled during the Eucharistic service: “It is thanks to Father Stanisław that my priestly vocation was born. I remember that since my childhood, my grandmother took me to his grave and we prayed together for new vocations. Father Stanisław spoke to me and became for me an example of a good priest. My grandmother told me about the time when Father Stanisław, to help my great-grandmother and her children, who was widowed after her husband was killed by communists, had put under the tablecloth, during a visit, all the money collected for the repair of the church. Thanks to this gesture, my family survived” (jezuity.by).
The discreet charity practiced by Father Michalski still largely needs to be brought to light. “When the news of the blessing of the new grave spread,” Father Viktor Zhuk told Fides, "we were informed of another similar case by a priest whose original family had been helped in the same way by Father Michalski, without whose help would probably have died of misery”.
Born on May 1, 1912 in a small town near Poznan, to Józef and Józefa Michalski, Stanisław entered the Society of Jesus when he was only sixteen years old. From 1930 to 1935 he studied at Pinsk college, where he received his secondary school diploma. From September 1935 to May 1938, he studied in Krakow, at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Society, then went to Vilnius to follow theological training. On March 24, 1942, along with other priests, he was arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned until October 30, 1942, when he was deported, without trial, to a concentration camp near Kaunas.
In July 1944, with the approach of Soviet troops, he managed to leave the camp and, on August 5, returned to Vilnius, where he was ordained priest on October 3, 1944. Sent to exercise his pastoral service, first as assistant parish priest, then as parish priest, in Višnevo and Bogdanów, he was repeatedly subjected to punitive expeditions by members of the Komsomol (Union of Communist Leninist Youth), before whose intimidation and torture he did not give in. On the eve of Catholic Christmas 1950, he was severely beaten and died the next day from his injuries. Shortly before his death, he asked those present to pray that there would never be a shortage of new priestly vocations in these difficult times for the clergy and all the faithful. This is what the faithful did and continue to pray at the Jesuit's tomb in Višnevo.
In the current organizational structure of the Society of Jesus, the current Russian region, linked to the Northern Poland Province, includes Russia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. In Belarus, there are currently two Jesuits in the city of Vitebsk. Spiritual exercises according to the Ignatian method, lasting one week, are offered regularly in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. (CD) (Agenzia Fides, 16/7/2024)


Share:

2024 - A Missionary among fellow prisoners: Ján Havlík is blessed

2024 - The Church's grateful memory of the martyrs and the present of the Church

2024 - Jesuits and Salesians celebrate the memory of Father Stanisław Michalski, murdered at Christmas 1950

2024 - The martyrology of Catholics in Rwanda in 1994

2024 - “Christus in martyre est”. The light of hope lit by the martyrs continues to illuminate the path of the Church

2023 - Jubilee 2025: the Pope establishes the Commission of the New Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith, "ripe fruits of the Lord's vineyard"

2023 - The beatitude of martyrs, friends in Paradise

2023 - "She ended her life praying for everyone". Sister Maria Agustina Rivas, killed for being a peacemaker

2023 - Luisa Guidotti Mistrali: "I want to go on mission as a doctor, leave forever, remaining lay among the laity"

2023 - Sacrificing one's life to save the lives of others: the simple and strong faith of young Akash

2023 - "They remained in their place, close to the persecuted people, until their bloodshed". The story of the Jesuit martyrs of Chapotera

2022 - In grateful memory of the murdered missionaries. Witnesses, not "testimonial"

2022 - Missionaries killed in the year 2022

2022 - Recognized the heroic virtues of Luisa Guidotti Mistrali, killed in former Rhodesia

2022 - The testimony of Monsignor Jaramillo, "prophet and martyr of peace" is always alive and current

2022 - "We are not celebrating two dead, but two risen in Christ". Lebanese Christians celebrate the beatification of Capuchins Leonardo Melki and Thomas Saleh, missionaries and martyrs

2022 - Catholic priest and in charge of the migrant's house found dead in Tecate

2022 - Canonization of Charles de Foucauld: Archbishop of Algiers on the special spiritual path

2022 - Catechist Martyrs: stories that deserve to be recognized

2022 - March 24, Missionary Martyrs Day: "Voice of the Word"

2022 - The diocesan process for the beatification of the young Akash Bashir begins

2022 - Patriarch Sako: Canonization processes for Iraqi martyrs progressing

2022 - The Egyptian government increases the state subsidy to the families of the Coptic martyrs of Libya

2022 - The grateful memory of the Coptic Martyrs of Libya is renewed and grows, seven years after their massacre

2022 - Massacre of Jesuits: Film reconstructs what happened in 1989 and what is still happening today

2022 - A time of "spiritual awakening" in memory of the Coptic Martyrs of Libya, who died whispering the name of Jesus

2021 - MISSIONARIES KILLED IN THE YEAR 2021

2021 - Message and spiritual legacy of the monks of Tibhirine, 25 years after their tragic death

2021 - On January 22, the beatification of the four martyrs Rutilio Grande, Manuel Solórzano, Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez and Cosma Spessotto

2021 - A life at the service of the least of society: the lay volunteer Nadia de Munari killed in Nuevo Chimbote

2020 - MISSIONARIES KILLED IN 2020

2020 - On the 40th anniversary: CELAM commemorates the “selfless” service of the missionaries who died as martyrs in El Salvador

2020 - Bishops: "despite the pain, Catholics refuse to give in to fear"

2020 - A young priest ordained five months ago found dead

2020 - Salesian missionary Father Josef Thannhuber remembered, 100 years after his martyrdom in Brazil

2020 - "The value of martyrdom as an element of Christian life in El Salvador": towards the beatification of the missionary Cosma Spessotto

2020 - On the feast of San Romero the memory of all the missionaries killed in the name of Christ

2020 - A Day to remember the missionary martyrs

2020 - The body of the priest who went missing since January 16 has been found

2019 - MISSIONARIES KILLED IN 2019

2019 - Lasallian missionary brother James Alfred Miller beatified, "martyr for education"

2019 - The beatification of Father Cremonesi, martyr, on the eve of Mission Day in the Extraordinary Missionary Month

2019 - A parish priest in Cauca killed, a battleground between old and new armed gangs

2019 - The martyr Catechists of the Church of Mozambique towards beatification

2019 - The first liturgical feast of the blessed martyrs of La Rioja: an opportunity to learn and imitate their testimony of faith

2019 - The martyrs of La Rioja beatified: "they lived and died out of love"

2019 - The Bishops of the Cordoba region: "Let us joyfully live the grace of beatification"

2019 - Presentation of the logo for the beatification of the martyrs of La Rioja, "the joy of the whole people"

2018 - MISSIONARIES KILLED IN THE YEAR 2018

2018 - Special Fides: Young missionaries, witnesses of Christ giving their lives

2018 - Another priest murdered in Medellín

2018 - A priest killed in the English-speaking area, scene of clashes with separatists

2018 - La Rioja remembers its martyrs, the next blessed

2018 - Priest killed to rob his van

2018 - An impulse for mission and for vocations comes from the beatification of Sr. Leonella

2018 - Bishops ask after yet another priest is assassinated : ' why have we lost respect for life?'

2017 - Missionaries killed in 2017

2017 - The relics of Father Ramírez transfered, the Martyr of Armero, the next blessed

2017 - Pope Francis: “The Church is Church if she is a Church of martyrs”

2017 - Conclusion of the diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the missionary martyr Fr. Ramin

2016 - PASTORAL CARE WORKERS KILLED IN 2016

2015 - PASTORAL CARE WORKERS KILLED IN 2015

2013 - PASTORAL CARE WORKERS KILLED IN 2013

2012 - PASTORAL CARE WORKERS KILLED IN 2012

2011 - THE NAMES OF PASTORAL WORKERS, BISHOPS, PRIESTS, MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND LAY CATHOLICS, KILLED IN THE YEAR 2011

2010 - THE NAMES OF PASTORAL WORKERS, PRIESTS, MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND LAY CATHOLICS KILLED DURING 2010

2009 - THE NAMES OF PASTORAL WORKERS, PRIESTS, MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND LAY CATHOLICS KILLED DURING 2009

2008 - THE NAMES OF PASTORAL WORKERS, PRIESTS, MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND LAY CATHOLICS KILLED DURING 2008

2007 - Dossier: The names of pastoral workers, priests, men and women religious and lay catholics Killed during 2007

2006 - NAMES OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WHILE ON MISSION IN 2006

2005 - THE NAMES OF THOSE KILLED WHILE ON MISSION IN THE YEAR 2005