Perhaps a saint we can pray to in relation to not only the war in the Ukraine, but also in Gaza, and for the relentless anti-semitism in our own country now, is ST. JOZEF BILCZEWSKI. He was born into a Polish peasant family in Wilamowice on 26 April 1860, the eldest of nine. In August 1880 he entered the Seminary of Kraków, one of the most prestigious schools in Europe, and was ordained a priest on 6 July 1884. He then moved to Vienna to continue his studies, earning a doctorate in theology.
In
Rome and Paris, he specialized in dogmatic theology and in Christian
archaeology. In 1891 he became a professor at the University of Lviv.
At the suggestion of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, he was appointed Archbishop of Lviv for Latins on 18 December 1900. In his episcopal mission he had to face difficulties due to internal problems and the conflicts of the First World War. He was known for his love of the Eucharist and formed his priests in love of the Blessed Sacrament. The archbishop also encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and urged priests to implement Eucharistic Adoration in their parishes.
He often intervened with the civil authorities on behalf of Poles, Ukrainians and Jews. Archbishop Bilczewski aided his people throughout the onslaught of World War I organizing relief and food for those displaced and those who became refugees; he likewise aided beggars and the homeless in his archdiocese.
In 1918 he did all he could to smooth tensions during the Polish-Ukrainian War and he collaborated with his brother bishops in helping their people when the conflict escalated; he likewise did the same thing during the Bolshevik occupation of Poland and Ukraine while also collaborating with the apostolic nuncio Achille Ratti - the future Pope Pius XI.
