Andrew Bobola, SJ (; 1591 – 16 May 1657) was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the "Apostle of Lithuania" and the "hunter of souls". He was beaten and tortured to death during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. He was canonized in 1938 by Pope Pius XI.

Life

The progenitor of the Bobola family is believed to have been Bobola, who lived in the first half of the 13th century in Silesia. He was a subject of Duke Henry the Bearded and a łązęka—a free peasant farmer. It is possible that he was already granted knightly status and the Leliwa coat of arms. He certainly founded the family seat in Bobolice. However, only a few decades later, his heirs lost Bobolice to the Cistercians from Henryków for raubritterism.

In the first half of the 14th century, the Bobola family appears in the circle of the powerful Tarnowski family, also bearing the Leliwa coat of arms, as well as at the Polish royal court, where they gained considerable influence. Over time, the family expanded, although many of its branches maintained a middle-class status.

The exact origins of Andrew Bobola were a matter of controversy, as various armorials and biographies offered conflicting accounts.

According to Father Jan Poplatek, a Jesuit and researcher of the saint's life, Andrew Bobola came from a more prominent branch of the Bobola family. His grandfather was said to be Jan Bobola of Piaski, the administrator of Jarosław, owner of several villages, and holder of a house in the Podgórze, near Kraków. This property was reportedly granted to him in recognition of his services by Kings John I Albert and Alexander Jagiellon.

Jan had several children, among them Krzysztof, who, from his marriage to Elżbieta Wielopolska, had three sons: Jan, Andrzej, and Mikołaj. Andrzej achieved the highest position, becoming the Grand Chamberlain of the Crown and a royal secretary. Jan was a landowner and the father of, among others, Sebastian, a Jesuit and university professor, and Kacper, a canon of Kraków and royal secretary. The third brother, Mikołaj, heir to the estate of Strachocina near Krosno, was the father of Saint Andrew Bobola.

Bobola was born in 1591 into a noble family in the Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland, then a constituent part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1611 he entered the Society of Jesus in Vilnius, then in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the other part of the Commonwealth. He subsequently professed solemn vows and was ordained in 1622, after which he served for several years as an advisor, preacher, superior of a Jesuit residence, and other jobs in various places.

From 1652 Bobola also worked as a country "missionary", in various locations of Lithuania: these included Polotsk, where he was probably stationed in 1655, and also Pinsk, (both now in Belarus). On 16 May 1657, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, he was captured in Pinsk, and then killed in the village of Janów (now Ivanava, Belarus), by the Cossacks of Bohdan Chmielnicki.

  • A second account states that the Cossacks first tried to make Bobola renounce his religion; when he refused, he was stripped, tied to a hedge, and whipped. A crown of twigs was mockingly placed on his head and he was then dragged to a butcher's shop where, after continued refusals to renounce his faith, the skin was torn off his chest and back and holes were cut into his palms. Bobola was subjected to further tortures for two hours before having an awl driven into his heart, being strung up by his feet, and being killed with a sabre just as a Polish rescue party entered Janów.
  • A third account states that Bobola was seized and severely beaten by two Cossacks who then tied him to their saddles in order to take him to Janów; there, he was subjected to tortures including burning, strangulation, and flaying, before finally being killed with a sabre.

Veneration

thumb|Andrzej Bobola memorial church in Janów Poleski, 19th-century image

Bobola's body was originally buried in the Jesuit church in Pinsk. It was later moved to their church in Polotsk. In May 1924, the relics were installed in Rome's Church of the Gesù, the main church of the Society of Jesus. with an arm remaining at the original shrine in Rome (see photo at left).

Declared blessed by Pope Pius IX on 30 October 1853, Bobola was canonized by Pope Pius XI on 17 April 1938. In 2002, the Bishops' Conference of Poland declared Bobola a patron saint of Poland.