Franciszek Rogaczewski was a Polish Catholic priest

Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....

 who was arrested by the Nazis and killed at Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...

. He is considered a martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

, and was beatified

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 by Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 on 13 June 1999.

Life

Franciszek Rogaczewski was born on 23 December 1892 in Lipinki

Lipinki, Swiecie County

Lipinki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Warlubie, within Świecie County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Warlubie, north of Świecie, north-east of Bydgoszcz, and north of Toruń.The village has a population of...

, Kujawsko-Pomorskie

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship

-Transportation:Transportation infrastructure is of critical importance to the voivodeship's economy. Kuyavia-Pomerania is a major node point in the Polish transportation system. Railway lines from the South and East pass through Bydgoszcz in order to reach the major ports on the Baltic Sea...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. He studied for the priesthood and was ordained in Gdansk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

 in 1918. As pastor of Christ the King parish, he was a highly renowned and much sought-after confessor. Rogaczewski was arrested on 1 September 1939 by the Nazis for the crime being a priest. He was tortured for months before being shot to death on 11 January 1940 while imprisoned at Stutthof concentration camp (located near Sztutowo

Sztutowo

Sztutowo is a village in Nowy Dwór Gdański County, part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland. It is located about 38 km east of Gdańsk on the northeastern edge of the Vistula Delta, at the base of the Vistula Spit on the Baltic coast....

, Poland).

Veneration

After his death, Rogaczewski was recognized as one of the martyrs of World War II

108 Martyrs of World War Two

The 108 Martyrs of World War II, known also as 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs , were Roman Catholics from Poland killed during World War II by the Nazis....

. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 June 1999. His individual feast day is 11 January; there is also a group memorial for the 108 Martyrs of World War II on 12 June.