Bl Michal Kozal

Michal Kozal was born in the village of Nowy Folwark, in Poland, on 27 September 1893. His family were farmers. He trained for the priesthood at seminaries in Poznań and Gniezno

He was ordained a priest in 1918. In the following years he served in several parishes and also worked in schools, and many Polish Catholic social activities, schools and youth organisations. In 1927 he was appointed rector of the major seminary of Gniezno.

In 1939 he was named auxiliary bishop of Wloclawek, where he was consecrated in the cathedral on August 13. Two weeks later, on September 1, the Nazis invaded Poland and immediately launched a campaign against the Church together with all symbols of national identity. German troops arrived in Wloclawek on September 14, suppressing religious publications, seizing church buildings, and arresting hundreds of clergy. Bishop Kozal issued protests to no avail. Refusing the opportunity to flee, he insisted on remaining with his people.

On November 7 he was arrested along with other priests and imprisoned in the city jail. After confinement in a Cistercian monastery and then a monastery in Ladekfor over a year, he was transported in 1941 to Dachau, where thousands of clergy were held captive. During his imprisonment he continued to exercise his priestly vocation, offering spiritual guidance to his fellow priests and, when possible, celebrating Mass. He said: “I give you the greatest gift, Jesus in the Eucharist. God is with us. God will never abandon us.”

On 26 January 1943, he was taken away for execution by a fatal injection. His last words were: “Now is the easiest way to eternity.” His body was cremated.

Michal Kozal was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 14 June 1987, on his first pilgrimage to his native Poland. During his homily, Pope John Paul II said: “All of us who look at Jesus Christ crucified know that this is not the power of “violence”, but the power of love. Many sons and daughters of the Polish land gave testimony to this saving power in our homeland. In different eras. In different centuries. Only some of them were recorded by the Church in the registers of its saints and blesseds. Some are waiting for the judgment of the Church. Today, with joy and elation, we add one more name and surname to them: Bishop Michał Kozal, called on the eve of the last war and terrible occupation to the episcopal ministry in the Church of Włocławek. Then he was imprisoned and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. One of thousands! He was martyred there and passed away in the opinion of holiness. Today, here in Warsaw, he is raised to the glory of the altars as a martyr.”