Immaculata Militia is a Catholic association. It was established in Rome on 16 October 1917 by the Polish Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe and six other friars. It is open to lay people, clergy, and religious. In 1997 the Holy See recognized it as a Public International Association of the Faithful.
The group began in 1917 at the Conventual Franciscan house of studies in Rome. It was erected as a Pious Union by the Vicariate of Rome on 2 January 1922, and later raised to a Primary Pious Union in 1927 by Pope Pius XI.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the association grew in Poland. A large friary and printing center was set up at Niepokalanów near Warsaw in 1927 to support publications and outreach. In 1930, a mission house opened in Nagasaki, Japan (Mugenzai no Sono).
During World War II, activities were limited. The friary at Niepokalanów sheltered refugees and continued limited printing until the authorities closed it. After 1945, local centers started again in different countries. On 16 October 1997, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decreed the erection of the Militia of the Immaculata as a Public International Association and approved its Statutes; a further approval of revised Statutes was issued on 25 March 2015.
Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941) was a Conventual Franciscan priest and the founder of the association. He developed a large publishing center at Niepokalanów and led missions, including in Japan. In July 1941 at the Auschwitz prison, he volunteered to die in the place of another prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek. He died on 14 August 1941 after starvation and a lethal injection. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982 and is sometimes called a "martyr of charity".
The association and its members have produced magazines and other texts since the 1920s. The monthly magazine Rycerz Niepokalanej (Knight of the Immaculate) began in 1922 and has been printed at Niepokalanów; a Japanese edition (Seibo no Kishi) started in Nagasaki in 1930. The MI’s Statutes name Miles Immaculatae as the official voice of the association. Collections of Kolbe’s short writings and letters are also read by members. Recently, Immaculata Militia has released some non-liturgical biblical translations such as the Immaculata Version of the New Testament by Max Freedom Pollard. Immaculata Militia hosts youth and study groups worldwide.
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