ST JOSEPH'S - Key Persons

Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp. When a prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis selected 10 others to be killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. At this Father Kolbe stepped forward to give his life so that one of the men chosen could survive. His request was granted. As the ten condemned men were led to the death Block, Father Kolbe supported a fellow prisoner who could hardly walk. Father Kolbe was the last to die on August 14, 1941. "God dwells in our midst…He remains among us until the end of the world. "

Oscar Romero was Archbishop of San Salvador in Central America. He sided with the many poor people of his country and spoke out against poverty, social injustice and torture carried out by the new Government. In 1980 He wrote to the US president asking him to stop sending guns to his country as they were being used to kill innocent people. He was assassinated on 24 th March 1980 whilst saying mass. He was beatified by Pope Francis on 23 May 2017 and so is now called Blessed.

Sean was a teacher who in February 1989 went to Liberia as a Lay Volunteer working with the Salesian Commmunity. When his school closed in 1990 as a result of the Civil War, Sean stayed to work with the United Nations in relief operations. On 2nd January 1993, Sean was shot dead,assassinated by a hired gunman at the age of 28. Sean died coming to the aid of children and had spent nearly five years helping the poorest of Africa's youths. "While my heart beats, I have to do what I think I can do - and that is to help those that are less fortunate."