Karol Herman Stępień
Karol Herman Stępień (1910–1943) was a Polish Roman Catholic martyr.
Karol Herman Stępień | |
|---|---|
 Hermann Stepien in 1938 | |
| Born | Karol Herman Stępień October 21, 1910 |
| Died | July 19, 1943 Borowikowszczyzna, Poland |
| Other names | Hermann Stepien |
| Occupation | Priest |
Early life
Stępień was born on October 21, 1910, in Lodz, Poland.[1][2] He grew up in a poor family in Lodz.[2]
Stępień was educated in Lodz.[2] He attended the Franciscan seminary in Lviv, graduating in 1929.[2] He then attended the Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure in Rome.[2] He was ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1937 in Rome.[2]
Stępień returned to Poland, where he earned a Master's degree in Theology from Lviv University.[2]
Vocation
He served as a Francisco priest in Radomsko and Vilnius.[2] In 1940, he was asked by Bishop Kazimierz Bukraba of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pinsk to go to Piaršai to help their parish priest, Achille Puchala.[2]
When the Nazis invaded in 1943, Stepien decided to stay and keep preaching.[2] He declared: "Pastors cannot leave the believers!".[2]
Death
On July 19, 1943, the Nazis took Stępień, Puchala and their parishioners to a barn in Borowikowszczyzna, which they set on fire, thus murdering them all together.[1][2][3]
Legacy
Stępień was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1999, in Warsaw, Poland.[1][3]
References
- Andreas Resch, Die Seligen Johannes Pauls II: 1996-2000, Innsbruck: Resch Verlag, p. 230
- Biography of Hermann Stepien, Church of Saint Zigmunt, Słomczyn, Piaseczno County
- Nominis: Bienheureux Achille Puchala et Hermann Stepien