On Saturday, July 13, 2024, an exhibition entitled: “The Blessed Martyrs of Peru and Father Kolbe” was unveiled at the Shrine of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Carini, near Palermo (Sicily) Italy. The exhibition was a joint initiative of the Embassy of Poland to the Holy See, the Italian Province of the Immaculate Conception (Sicily-Calabria) and the Franciscan Missionary Center ONLUS [a non-profit organization] in Rome.
Despite taking place on a very hot afternoon, the event met with considerable success among the faithful and devotees of St. Maximilian Kolbe. There were two hundred members of the Militia of the Immaculata attending, along with the faithful and vacationers who visit the vast lands around Carini in the summer. Ten friars were present at the event in addition to some civil authorities and various guests who came from Rome.
A documentary film about the Martyrs of Peru, edited by the Missionary Center, was screened during the exhibition to teach others more about the heroic sacrifice made by the two friars from Poland who were barbarously killed by the Maoist terrorist group Sendero Luminoso on August 9, 1991. The documentary told the story of their martyrdom, the recognition of their relics and the great celebration that took place when they were beatified. That celebration was held in the Chimbote stadium, in Peru, on December 5, 2015. His Eminence Cardinal Angelo AMATO, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, presided. Fifteen bishops were present together with five hundred and fifty priests, some ministers from the Government of Peru, and twenty-five thousand faithful.
After the screening, the unveiling ceremony began with speeches by four guest speakers, namely,: the Minister Provincial, Friar Gaspare LA BARBERA, the Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See, Adam Mariusz KWIATKOWSKI, the Director of the Kolbe Center, Friar Salvino PULIZZOTTO, and the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI. The speakers highlighted the altruistic sacrifice made by the young friars, who were both in their thirties. The friars had come to Peru two years earlier when they enthusiastically began their ministry of human and social promotion in Pariacoto, a village in the Andean foothills.
This exhibition was coordinated by the Director of the Missionary Center, Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, who pointed out the analogy between the sacrifice made by the Blessed Friar-Martyrs, the sacrifice of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was martyred by the Nazis in Auschwitz on August 14, 1941, and the sacrifice of Bl. Pino PUGLISI, a Pastor in Palermo who was killed by the mafia in that city’s Brancaccio District on September 15, 1993.
Many who attended the exhibition were unaware of the sacrifice made by the Blessed Martyrs of Peru. Other guests at the event included the Vice-Mayor of Carini, Salvo BADALAMENTI; the National President of the Militia of the Immaculata, Diego TORRE; and Friar Roman WADACH, a member of the Vatican College of Penitentiaries, who accompanied the Ambassador and Dr. Totò MONTEROSSO, the former Mayor of Carini. Dr. MONTEROSSO agreed with the Polish Ambassador and the Polish Consulate in Palermo, to create a “counseling desk” to assist the many Polish citizens residing in the vast area around Carini and the Greater Metropolis of Palermo.
The event ended with the blessing of the exhibition by the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Monreale, Italy, Father Ferdinando TOIA.
The exhibition will remain open at the Shrine throughout the summer.
Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Director of the Franciscan Missionary Center
