1982 cannonization of Saint Maximilian Kolbe...
SUN-TIMES, Chicago, Oct. 11, 1982
- Saint Maximilian Kolbe canonized by Pope John Paul II
- Polish priest & martyr Auschwitz death camp execution trade
Page 7 has a photo showing Franciszek Gajownicek kissing the ring of Pope John Paul II with headings: "Pope rips Poland's leaders" and "Vatican II gets mixed reviews" (see images)
Complete with all 96 pages, tabloid size in good condition.
Background: The October 10, 1982 canonization of Saint Maximilian Kolbe by Pope John Paul II remains a historically notable and rare event in modern Catholic history, characterized by unprecedented personal connections, liturgical exceptions, and exceptionally rare physical relics. Held in St. Peter's Square, the ceremony was uniquely notable for the presence of Franciszek Gajowniczek—the Polish army sergeant whose place Kolbe voluntarily took in the Auschwitz starvation bunker in 1941—making it one of the extremely few canonizations in church history attended by the person whose life was saved by the saint. The event was further marked by Pope John Paul II's intentional overriding of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints; while the commission recommended beatifying and canonizing Kolbe as a "Confessor of the Faith" (as he did not die directly for refusing to renounce Christ), the Pope explicitly elevated him as a "Martyr of Charity", establishing a profound theological distinction that giving one's life out of heroic love for another constitutes true martyrdom. Beyond the historic ceremony, physical items associated with Kolbe and his canonization—such as official Vatican commemorative medals, program booklets, original signed documents from his pre-war ministry, and certified first-class relics of his hair (saved covertly by his friary barbers prior to his imprisonment)—are considered among the rarest 20th-century religious artifacts, highly prized by collectors and institutions due to the total destruction of his remains in the Auschwitz crematoriums.