Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski

Who was Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski?

Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski was a Polish priest and scout, and is the patron of Polish Scouts. He joined Scouting on March 21, 1927. Frelichowski served as patrol leader and later as troop leader and during his years in the High Seminary of Pelplin Diocese he was an active member of its Scout Club. Furthermore, he was an active member of the Marian Congregation in Chełmża and since he was nine years old he had been an altar boy. During his years in the seminary of Pelpin, he was active in the temperance movement. On March 14, 1937, he was ordained a priest in Pelpin. In the following years, he served as a priest in Pelpin and Toruń. While working as a priest, he continued his studies at the University of Lwów. In Toruń he was responsible for the parish press. In 1938 he became leader of the Old Scouts and chaplain of the scout district Pomerania. Arrested by the Gestapo on October 18, 1939, he was imprisoned in the German concentration camps Stutthof, Grenzdorf, Sachsenhausen and Dachau, where he died. On June 7, 1999, Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski was beatified by Pope John Paul II.