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What happened to St. Maximilian Kolbe’s beard? The answer may surprise you #Catholic In 2022, the Catholic Church in Poland shared a photo commemorating the 81st anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s arrest by the Nazis. The image, the last one taken of the saint before his final arrest, was notable for what it didn’t show — his signature long beard.By the time the photo was taken, Kolbe had already been arrested by the Nazis once but was clearly resolved to continue his nationwide evangelization efforts. The monastery he had established at Niepokalanów, 25 miles west of Warsaw, had become a major Catholic publishing center.The beard with which Kolbe is often pictured is notable for several reasons, one of which was the fact that not many of his Franciscan counterparts in Poland sported them. He shaved his signature beard in order to blend in with his fellow Franciscans and with society at large. St. Maximilian Kolbe. | Credit: Public domain The second reason is that Kolbe’s beard is the only first-class relic that exists of him. The rest of his body was incinerated in the ovens of Auschwitz after he was murdered by the Nazis in 1941.Father James McCurry, a Conventual Franciscan and minister provincial of the Our Lady of the Angels Province, gave a homily in 2016 commemorating the 75th anniversary of Kolbe’s martyrdom in which he mentioned the saint’s beard.McCurry, author of the book “Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Charity,” said Kolbe chose to keep the beard upon his return from six years of missionary work in Japan. In those days, it was customary for missionaries to grow long beards, and Kolbe wanted to keep it as a reminder of his missionary days and as a reminder to always be a “missionary” of the Gospel.McCurry said Kolbe’s beard made him unusual among his Conventual Franciscan counterparts, who generally did not wear them. Kolbe’s fame was spreading in Poland thanks to his publishing work, and his unique beard helped him to stand out all the more.It was for this reason that Kolbe eventually, after the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, made the decision to shave it, McCurry said, so as not to stand out. Kolbe’s founding of the Militia Immaculata (MI), an evangelization movement identifying with Mary, put him high on Nazi watchlists.One book on his life offers this quote from the saint: “Beards provoke the enemy who rapidly is approaching our friary. Our Franciscan habits also will provoke him. I can part with my beard. I can’t sacrifice my habit.”After a fellow brother cut off Kolbe’s beard for him, the brother at first tried to save the beard, but Kolbe objected and told him to throw it in the stove. So, obediently, the brother threw it into the stove, but the fire was not lit, so the brother later retrieved it and stored it in a pickle jar.Today, Kolbe’s beard is his only surviving first-class relic.McCurry was also a friend of Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man for whom Kolbe laid down his life at Auschwitz in late July 1941, following his arrest on Feb. 17.Gajowniczek was one of the 10 men selected to be executed in reprisal for one prisoner’s escape from the barracks. He cried out: “What will happen to my wife and children?” And in response, Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place. The 10 were placed, naked, in a starvation chamber.All 10 of those condemned that day died eventually; six starved, and the deaths of the rest, including Kolbe, were hastened by an injection of carbolic acid.This story was first published in August 2021 and has been updated.
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What happened to St. Maximilian Kolbe’s beard? The answer may surprise you #Catholic In 2022, the Catholic Church in Poland shared a photo commemorating the 81st anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s arrest by the Nazis. The image, the last one taken of the saint before his final arrest, was notable for what it didn’t show — his signature long beard.By the time the photo was taken, Kolbe had already been arrested by the Nazis once but was clearly resolved to continue his nationwide evangelization efforts. The monastery he had established at Niepokalanów, 25 miles west of Warsaw, had become a major Catholic publishing center.The beard with which Kolbe is often pictured is notable for several reasons, one of which was the fact that not many of his Franciscan counterparts in Poland sported them. He shaved his signature beard in order to blend in with his fellow Franciscans and with society at large. St. Maximilian Kolbe. | Credit: Public domain The second reason is that Kolbe’s beard is the only first-class relic that exists of him. The rest of his body was incinerated in the ovens of Auschwitz after he was murdered by the Nazis in 1941.Father James McCurry, a Conventual Franciscan and minister provincial of the Our Lady of the Angels Province, gave a homily in 2016 commemorating the 75th anniversary of Kolbe’s martyrdom in which he mentioned the saint’s beard.McCurry, author of the book “Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Charity,” said Kolbe chose to keep the beard upon his return from six years of missionary work in Japan. In those days, it was customary for missionaries to grow long beards, and Kolbe wanted to keep it as a reminder of his missionary days and as a reminder to always be a “missionary” of the Gospel.McCurry said Kolbe’s beard made him unusual among his Conventual Franciscan counterparts, who generally did not wear them. Kolbe’s fame was spreading in Poland thanks to his publishing work, and his unique beard helped him to stand out all the more.It was for this reason that Kolbe eventually, after the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, made the decision to shave it, McCurry said, so as not to stand out. Kolbe’s founding of the Militia Immaculata (MI), an evangelization movement identifying with Mary, put him high on Nazi watchlists.One book on his life offers this quote from the saint: “Beards provoke the enemy who rapidly is approaching our friary. Our Franciscan habits also will provoke him. I can part with my beard. I can’t sacrifice my habit.”After a fellow brother cut off Kolbe’s beard for him, the brother at first tried to save the beard, but Kolbe objected and told him to throw it in the stove. So, obediently, the brother threw it into the stove, but the fire was not lit, so the brother later retrieved it and stored it in a pickle jar.Today, Kolbe’s beard is his only surviving first-class relic.McCurry was also a friend of Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man for whom Kolbe laid down his life at Auschwitz in late July 1941, following his arrest on Feb. 17.Gajowniczek was one of the 10 men selected to be executed in reprisal for one prisoner’s escape from the barracks. He cried out: “What will happen to my wife and children?” And in response, Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place. The 10 were placed, naked, in a starvation chamber.All 10 of those condemned that day died eventually; six starved, and the deaths of the rest, including Kolbe, were hastened by an injection of carbolic acid.This story was first published in August 2021 and has been updated.

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The last image taken of the saint before his final arrest was notable for what it didn’t show — his signature long beard.

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Czech court to weigh clearing cardinal jailed by communists #Catholic A second cardinal and a third senior churchman may be rehabilitated this year for mistreatment under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The District Court in Litoměřice, in what is now the Czech Republic, will consider a proposal for the rehabilitation of Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, the former bishop of Litoměřice, over his internment between 1950 and 1953.The public prosecutor asked the relevant authorities to carry out an investigation into the archives and, based on the outcome, found the initiative reasonable. He has already submitted a proposal for the judicial rehabilitation of Trochta over the illegal deprivation of his personal freedom. A date for consideration of the proposal has not yet been set.“I firmly believe that the name of Štěpán Trochta, my predecessor in Litoměřice, will be cleared through the courts,” said Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, who is also apostolic administrator of Litoměřice.The verdict that sent Trochta to prison, handed down in a political trial for “treason and conspiracy,” was overturned in 1968, but the Czech courts have not dealt with his earlier illegal internment. The initiative for full rehabilitation came from Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian Exile of the 20th Century, and the lawyer Lubomír Müller.It is “important to clean his name in this way as well,” said Kratochvil, whose family was friends with the prelate.Salesian, prisoner, cardinalŠtěpán Trochta (1905–1974) was one of the first Czech members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the so-called Salesians. He studied in Turin, Italy, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. He returned to Czechoslovakia, and when Nazi Germany occupied the country, he was arrested for his contacts with and support for the resistance and was sent to several concentration camps.He was “ready to work, full of energy, enthusiasm, and willing to work hard.” Trochta was also a good organizer and a gifted speaker and writer who “enjoyed being among the boys, even though he gradually had to spend more time in administration,” according to “Life and Legacy,” a booklet published by the Salesians on the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s death.Shortly before the communists took over in Czechoslovakia, he was appointed bishop of Litoměřice. He became the spokesman for the episcopate of Czechoslovakia in difficult negotiations with the new government. In the end, the regime interned him in his residence and later imprisoned him. Although he was released sooner than expected, he was not allowed to continue as a bishop and had to work as a manual laborer.In 1969, when he was already back in the Diocese of Litoměřice, Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal “in pectore” — that is, secretly.When Trochta died five years later, the funeral was attended by many of the faithful, including cardinals from Berlin, Krakow, and Vienna. Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II, reportedly asked to concelebrate but was not permitted to do so. Wojtyła then defied the ban on foreign participants speaking, delivering a short address over the coffin in which he called the deceased prelate a martyr. The funeral Mass was celebrated by the Czech bishop and future Cardinal František Tomášek.A series of Czech rehabilitationsThe case may become one more in a recent series of rehabilitations in the Czech Republic.In February, the District Court of Prague recognized the unjust treatment of Cardinal Josef Beran, the former archbishop of Prague, who was interned in several locations. Last month, the District Court in Olomouc rehabilitated Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha of Olomouc, also over his internment.In 2024, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové rehabilitated Father Josef Toufar, who was illegally arrested and tortured to death.
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Czech court to weigh clearing cardinal jailed by communists #Catholic A second cardinal and a third senior churchman may be rehabilitated this year for mistreatment under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The District Court in Litoměřice, in what is now the Czech Republic, will consider a proposal for the rehabilitation of Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, the former bishop of Litoměřice, over his internment between 1950 and 1953.The public prosecutor asked the relevant authorities to carry out an investigation into the archives and, based on the outcome, found the initiative reasonable. He has already submitted a proposal for the judicial rehabilitation of Trochta over the illegal deprivation of his personal freedom. A date for consideration of the proposal has not yet been set.“I firmly believe that the name of Štěpán Trochta, my predecessor in Litoměřice, will be cleared through the courts,” said Archbishop Stanislav Přibyl of Prague, who is also apostolic administrator of Litoměřice.The verdict that sent Trochta to prison, handed down in a political trial for “treason and conspiracy,” was overturned in 1968, but the Czech courts have not dealt with his earlier illegal internment. The initiative for full rehabilitation came from Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian Exile of the 20th Century, and the lawyer Lubomír Müller.It is “important to clean his name in this way as well,” said Kratochvil, whose family was friends with the prelate.Salesian, prisoner, cardinalŠtěpán Trochta (1905–1974) was one of the first Czech members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the so-called Salesians. He studied in Turin, Italy, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. He returned to Czechoslovakia, and when Nazi Germany occupied the country, he was arrested for his contacts with and support for the resistance and was sent to several concentration camps.He was “ready to work, full of energy, enthusiasm, and willing to work hard.” Trochta was also a good organizer and a gifted speaker and writer who “enjoyed being among the boys, even though he gradually had to spend more time in administration,” according to “Life and Legacy,” a booklet published by the Salesians on the 50th anniversary of the prelate’s death.Shortly before the communists took over in Czechoslovakia, he was appointed bishop of Litoměřice. He became the spokesman for the episcopate of Czechoslovakia in difficult negotiations with the new government. In the end, the regime interned him in his residence and later imprisoned him. Although he was released sooner than expected, he was not allowed to continue as a bishop and had to work as a manual laborer.In 1969, when he was already back in the Diocese of Litoměřice, Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal “in pectore” — that is, secretly.When Trochta died five years later, the funeral was attended by many of the faithful, including cardinals from Berlin, Krakow, and Vienna. Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II, reportedly asked to concelebrate but was not permitted to do so. Wojtyła then defied the ban on foreign participants speaking, delivering a short address over the coffin in which he called the deceased prelate a martyr. The funeral Mass was celebrated by the Czech bishop and future Cardinal František Tomášek.A series of Czech rehabilitationsThe case may become one more in a recent series of rehabilitations in the Czech Republic.In February, the District Court of Prague recognized the unjust treatment of Cardinal Josef Beran, the former archbishop of Prague, who was interned in several locations. Last month, the District Court in Olomouc rehabilitated Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha of Olomouc, also over his internment.In 2024, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové rehabilitated Father Josef Toufar, who was illegally arrested and tortured to death.

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A district court will weigh whether Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, imprisoned by the Nazis and later by the communists, was unlawfully interned in the 1950s.

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