On Saturday, March 15, 2025, a short film about St. Maximilian Kolbe premiered at the friary in Harmęże, near Auschwitz, Poland. The film was made using the new VR (virtual reality) technology.
Thanks to this technology, viewers of Kolbe VR found themselves transported to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp where they experienced the life and martyrdom of St. Maximilian in an almost tangible way. The film let them feel as though they were participants in those events, not just observers.
The screening of Kolbe VR was followed by a meeting with the Director and creator of this unusual production, Tomasz DOBOSZ. During his conversation with Friar Marek KOWALCZE, he offered the audience a glimpse behind the scenes of his creation.
The screening of the film was one of many events on the very full schedule of the 23rd annual Kolbe Days program. The event was organized by the Conventual Franciscan friars and the Father Kolbe Missionary Sisters of the Immaculata.
This year’s Kolbe Days event was focused on the theme of hope, as presented in the teachings of Pope Francis, in Scripture and in the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Maximilian M. Kolbe.
The event speakers included Friar Kazimierz MALINOWSKI, Director of the St. Maximilian Center [Harmęże]; Friar Michał BARANOWSKI, a lecturer at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University [Warsaw, Poland]; Friar Zdzisław KIJAS, the Postulator General of the Order and a lecturer at the Pontifical John Paul II University [Cracow, Poland]; and Friar Piotr BIELENIN, Director of the Institute of Franciscan Studies [Cracow].
The homilies during the Masses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were offered by: Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK, the Assistant General for the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO); Friar Piotr SZCZEPAŃSKI, the Guardian of the friary in Niepokalanów, Poland; and Friar Mariusz KOZIOŁ, the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow).
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
