The Salesian Cardinals

Don Bosco’s Sons Who Became Cardinals

Archbishop August Hlond (1881-1948)

On Sept. 30, the Salesian rector major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, will become the 20th cardinal from among Don Bosco's Salesians.  ANS has planned a series of articles on some (or all) of his predecessors.

(ANS – Rome – Sept. 13, 2023) – The second son of Don Bosco awarded the red hat was August Hlond, today recognized by the Church as Venerable. A key player in one of the most dramatic periods in the history of the 20th century, Cardinal Hlond was, in the words of Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, “a virtuous man, a shining example of a Salesian religious, and a generous, austere pastor, capable of prophetic visions and obedient to the Church,” who “cultivated poverty and practiced justice toward the poor and needy.”

August Hlond was born in Brzeckowice, Poland, on July 5, 1881, the 2d of 11 children. His father was a railway worker. Having received a simple but strong faith from his parents, at the age of 12, attracted by Don Bosco’s reputation, he followed his older brother Ignatius to Italy to consecrate himself to the Lord among the Salesians, and soon attracted two more brothers. Admitted to the novitiate at Foglizzo Canavese, he received the cassock from Blessed Michael Rua.

After his religious profession, he was sent to Rome, where he attended the Gregorian University. Ordained a priest on September 23, 1905, he was the director of various Salesian houses in Przemysl and then Vienna. Following Don Bosco’s charism, in all his activities he took care of young people, especially the poor.

He was the first superior of the German-Hungarian Province. In Vienna he had the opportunity to be appreciated by Archbishop Achilles Ratti, who, having become Pope Pius XI, appointed him apostolic administrator of Upper Silesia, a responsibility of exceptional delicacy, as a disputed land between Germany and Poland. From his mediation between Germans and Poles, the diocese of Katowice was born in 1925, of which he became bishop. Significantly, he chose Don Bosco’s motto as his episcopal motto: “Da mihi animas caetera tolle.”

He lived among the people, sharing the joys and sufferings of the simplest people. In 1926 he was appointed archbishop of Gniezno and Poznan and primate of Poland, and just a year later the Pope made him a cardinal. In 1932 he founded the Society of Christ for Polish Emigrants, aimed at assisting the many compatriots who had left the country, and in the period between the two wars he was very critical of social injustices. To counteract the effects of the economic crisis, he established the social council at the headquarters of the primate of Poland. He also reacted to the rising tide of nationalism and in 1936 wrote a famous pastoral letter on moral principles in the social and political field.

Also in 1936, he led the first synod of Polish bishops. He became a great promoter of Catholic Action and was the first pastor in Poland, if not in the whole world, to establish a “youth festival.” In March 1939 he participated in the conclave that elected Pius XII.

On September 1 of the same year, the Nazis invaded Poland: World War II began. Cardinal Hlond, at the request of the Polish government and in agreement with the apostolic nuncio, went to Rome to inform the Holy Father of the tragic situation in Poland; unable to return to his homeland, he took refuge in Lourdes. He raised his voice against Hitler’s violations of human rights and religious freedom. From the abbey of Hautecombe he denounced the persecutions against the Jews in Poland. The Gestapo entered the abbey and arrested him, deporting him to Paris. The cardinal categorically refused to support the formation of a pro-Nazi Polish government. He was interned first in Lorraine and then in Westphalia. Freed by Allied troops, in 1945 he returned to his homeland.

But in the new Poland liberated from Nazism, he found Communism. Once again he courageously defended the Poles, this time standing up with vigorous pastoral care against Marxist atheist oppression, and he also had to escape some attacks.

On March 4, 1946, while maintaining the see of Gniezno, he was appointed archbishop of Warsaw by Pius XII. His successor, Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, called him a pastor “with his gaze set on the future.”

He died of pneumonia on October 22, 1948, at the age of 67. On his deathbed he spoke these words: “I have worked for Christ and for Poland and I will still do so.... I made many sacrifices for Jesus and sought his glory; I leave with joy,” and he prophesied, “Fight under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The victory, when it comes, will be the victory of the Most Holy Mother.” Thousands of people attended the funeral, and for the first time in the history of Poland, the burial took place in the cathedral itself.

In the history of the Church of Poland, Cardinal August Hlond was one of the most eminent figures for the religious witness of his life, for the greatness, variety, and originality of his pastoral ministry, and for the sufferings he faced with intrepid Christian spirit for the Kingdom of God.