Niepokalanów
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Niepokalanów (City of the Immaculate) is a Catholic religious community near Warsaw, Poland founded in 1927 by Franciscan Friar Maximilian Kolbe. At one time, it was the largest religious community in the world, housing 800 men.
The location served as a seminary and home for the Franciscan brothers, but also a center for charitable ministry and evangalization through radio and the distribution of printed materials. One magazine, Knight of the Immaculata, countered religious apathy and had a press run of 750,000 copies a month. Kolbe also founded a similar community in Nagasaki, Japan During the Second World War, the friary provided shelter to approximately 3,000 Polish refugees until it was closed shortly before Father Kolbe´s arrest and later death at the hands of the German Gestapo. The community was re-opened after the war.
