St. Maximilian Kolbe (8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941), "Apostle of Consecration to Mary," was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland. He was canonized by the Catholic Church on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, and prisoners.