Day 197 -- Saint Jósef Bilczewski

Saint Jósef Bilczewski was born on April 26, 1860 in Wilamowice, Austria which is modern-day Ukraine. He was the oldest of nine children in a peasant family. He entered the seminary at Krakow, Poland and was ordained on July 6, 1884. He earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Vienna in 1886. He then went onto study dogmatic theology and Christian archaeology in Rome and Paris. He became a professor of theology from the University of Lviv in 1891. He became archbishop of Leopoli in 1900. He worked hard to intervene with civil authorities between Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews. During WWI he guided his flock, and during the Polish-Ukrainian War, the Bolshevik invasion, and the anti-Catholic terror started by the Communists. Between the years 1918 and 1921 his diocese lost about 120 priests. He wanted to protect everyone in his diocese no matter race or religion. He died on March 20, 1923 in Lviv, Ukraine. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23, 2005 in Rome.