POLAND, June 1994, a postal card and its special cancel, Fischer catalog Cp 1071

Born in Sandomierz in Poland, Andrew Bobola entered the Society of Jesus in 1611 and was ordained 11 years later. After working in Vilnius and Warsaw, he went as a missionary to eastern Poland where the Catholic Church was being persecuted by the Orthodox. He was martyred in 1657 with extreme cruelty. On the 3rd centenary of his death, Pope Pius XII chose to write an encyclical letter, Invicti Athletae, about him, a most unusual honor. More

The above postal card was in honor of the first Congress of Catholic Organizations and Movements, which took place June 3, 1994 at the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola in Warsaw.

 
These are not stamps properly so called, but labels, large quantities of which were produced in Poland between 1982 and 1989 to raise money for Solidarity and as a protest against martial law which had been declared by the Communist authorities in Poland. The underground members who issued the stamps risked imprisonment without trial if caught.

 
POLAND, 1938, special cancel for Bobola's canonization

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