Maximilian Kolbe
Kolbe Times is an eMagazine and website that offers online content in the areas of spirituality, the arts and social justice. We are ecumenical in spirit and practice, and seek to advance interfaith unity.
We celebrate art in all its forms, for the ways in which it can nourish us, challenge us, connect us, and transform us. We seek hidden treasures, collective wisdom, and fresh perspectives from people with backgrounds and faith traditions different from our own. We share stories of those who are striving to heal our planet, build new bridges, and address disparities in our world. We join wholeheartedly with others focused on working for the common good.
Kolbe Times was founded in 2010 by a small group of Third Order Franciscans committed to living out the gospel of Jesus Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, focused on compassion and community. Our hope from the start has been to create a meeting place that sparks collaborative action and spiritual renewal, by giving voice to artists, thinkers and social innovators. We are a non-profit ministry – each issue is a “labour of love” put together by volunteers.
Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) was a Polish Franciscan priest who shared his faith and spoke out on behalf of the oppressed through the use of the modern media of his time. He and his fellow Franciscans also provided shelter for refugees and Jews in their friary at the beginning of WWII. Fr. Kolbe was later arrested and imprisoned in Auschwitz where, in July 1941, he volunteered to die in the place of another man. Locked in a cell with other condemned prisoners abandoned to die a slow death of starvation, he led the men in song and prayer. Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982 in the presence of the man whose life was spared due to his sacrifice. He is a patron saint of prisoners, families and journalists. His faith, selflessness and courage are the inspiration that shapes Kolbe Times.
807 – 21 Ave. N.W.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2M 1K5
