![[Blessed Ladislaus Findysz]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saintl2b.jpg "16kb jpg detail of the beatification portrait of Blessed Ladislaus Findysz; swiped off the Vatican web site")
Also known as
- Wladyslaw Findysz
Profile
Born to pious peasants, the son of Stanislaus Findysz and Apollonia Rachwal. Received his early education from the Felician Sisters. Joined the Marian Solidality as a young student. Entered the major seminary in Przemysl in the autumn of 1927. Spiritual student of Blessed John Balicki. Ordained on 19 June 1932.
Assistant parish priest at Boryslaw, Poland (in modern Ukraine) on 1 August 1932. Assistant parish priest at Drohobycz, Poland (in modern Ukraine) on 17 September 1935. Assistant parish priest at Strzyzów, Poland on 1 August 1937. Assistant parish priest at Jaslo, Poland on 10 October 1940. Parish administrator and then parish priest in Nowy Zmigród beginning on 8 July 1941.
On 3 October 1944 Ladislaus and the rest of the town were expelled by the retreating German army. Having survived the oppression of the Nazis, he returned on 23 January 1945 to rebuild the parish, and to care for war refugees under the oppression of the Communists. He saved several Greek Catholic families who were being persecuted and exiled by the Communists. From 1946 until his death he was under surveillance of the secret police; that same year he was recognized for his good work by being declared an honorary canon. Ordered to stop teaching the catechism in 1952. In order to hinder his work, in 1952 and 1954 he was ordered to live outside the area of his parish. Vice-dean of the Nowy Zmigród deanery in 1957; dean in 1962.
In 1963 he started the Conciliar Works of Charity, a letter writing campaign to parishioners to exhort them to return to the Church, and to spread the word of the reforms of Vatican II. The Communists took a very dim view of this work, and on 25 November 1963 Father Ladislaus was arrested and imprisoned in the Rzeszów Castle, two months after major surgery to remove Ladislaus’ thyroid gland. A standard show trial was conducted on 16 and 17 December 1963, and Ladislaus was given a 30 month sentence for the crime of “forcing” religion on his parishioners. This was followed by (also standard) series of published slanders and lies to discredit Ladislaus while he was being abused and starved in prison. Transferred to the central prison hospital on 25 January 1964, his health broken, and suffering from cancer of the esophagus. Surgery was postponed, and Ladislaus was permitted to suffer and deteriorate. Released from prison to his parish, Nowy Zmigród, on February 1964 due to his health, but civilian doctors proclaimed his tumors inoperable. Martyr.
Born
- 13 December 1907 in Kroscienko Nizne, near Krosno, Poland
- morning of 21 August 1964 of cancer of the esophagus in the presbytery of Nowy Zmigród, Poland
- buried the same day in the parish cemetery
- 20 December 2004 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)
- 19 June 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI
- recognition celebrated by Cardinal Jozef Glemp in Pilsudski Square, Warsaw, Poland
- the Cause for canonization began on 27 June 2000, the first Cause from the diocese of Rzeszów
- beatification approved on 20 December 2004 by Pope John Paul II
- first successful cause for beatification of a martyr of the Communist persecution in Poland
- recognition originally scheduled for 24 April 2005, but delayed due to the death of Pope John Paul II
- if you have information relevant to the canonization of Blessed Ladislaus, contact
Rev. Piotr Tarnawski
Kuria Diecezjalna
ul. Zamkowa, 4
35-023 Rzeszów, POLAND
Additional Information
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Ladislaus Findysz”. Saints.SQPN.com. 22 April 2010. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-ladislaus-findysz/>