The role of the Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry)

It is the role of the Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) to nurture the spiritual life of the members of the College. Spirituality is understood to be “our way of being in the world before God” (Harris, p.103). At Kolbe we have a particular form of Christian spirituality that is both Catholic and Kolbe.

Dimensions of the Role

Maria Harris identifies the five curriculum areas in the life of the Church:

• Koinonia – the curriculum of community
• Leiturgia – the curriculum of prayer
• Didache – the curriculum of teaching
• Kerygma – the curriculum of proclamation
• Diakonia – the curriculum of service

These aspects of the life of the Church are dimensions of its mission to evangelise. Their purpose is the fashioning of the People of God. Campus Ministry is about the same; it is a reflection of God’s creative educational intent as we learn about it in the world around us and in his Word. Each dimension describes an aspect of the life of the College and carries with it a set of tasks that constitute the work of the Deputy Principal (Campus Ministry).

Koinonia – the curriculum of community

The word koinonia means “partnership” and it refers to the spiritual fellowship of the community of faith. It is the first form of religious life that the College receives from the Church. Theologically, the people who comprise the College have been created in the image of God who is proclaimed to be a trinity of divine persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) will:

• nurture faith in Christ as the head and heart of the College community; to encourage members of the community to live in accordance with the goodness in people, the virtues befitting discipleship.
• ensure that the Catholic faith tradition to which the College belongs is made present and celebrated through its signs and symbols.
• organise opportunities for structured reflection on the college mission statement as the formal expression of the common desire for community.
• assist the House Coordinators in developing students’ understanding of and appreciation for the charisms of their House patrons.
• promote experiential learning opportunities that contribute to the formation of the conscience of the College community.
• foster awareness of the eschatological dimension of College as a Christian community, particularly through the celebration of the liturgy.
• through the use of various forms of media to support the development of publications that promote the College as a faith community.
• develop ways of drawing the College community into the parish communities, eg,, Altitude, World Youth Day.
• undertake whatever tasks the Principal determines that relate to the College as a faith community.

Leiturgia – the curriculum of prayer

The second form of religious life that the College receives from the Church is its vocation to worship and to pray. The word “liturgy” which means “the work of the people” comes from the Greek word leiturgia meaning “public service”. The English word is used to refer to the Church worshipping as a body. Along with this cultic aspect, it also incorporates the forms of personal prayer of the members of the College.

The Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) will:

• encourage staff, students and their families to engage in personal and communal prayer in their daily lives.
• develop and maintain a Pastoral Care Prayer File to be used by the Pastoral Care groups.
• ensure that there is a roster for weekly briefing prayers.
• maintain the development of the communal Friday morning prayer based on the forthcoming Sunday Gospel reading.
• ensure that all students and staff are familiar with and can use various forms of personal and public or communal prayer.
• facilitate in the College community a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the place of the liturgical seasons in the life of every Christian.
• encourage members of the College community to use the Chapel and the Japanese Garden for personal and communal prayer.
• initiate and maintain a schedule of weekly Masses that will be celebrated in the Chapel and prepared by Pastoral Care groups.
• oversee the development of a liturgical music ministry that incorporates the concept of ensembles drawn from the Houses.
• assist the Religious Education Coordinator in the training of senior students as special ministers of the Eucharist.
• facilitate the incorporation of music, drama and movement in the major liturgical celebrations held at the College.
• develop and maintain a programme of visits by ensembles to local parishes to participate in parish Masses.
• oversee the development of the role of Liturgy Captain and the formation of a Chapel Committee.
• undertake whatever tasks the Principal determines that relate to liturgical celebration.

Didache – the curriculum of teaching

The word didache relates to teaching. It is used in the Gospels to describe the work of Jesus and his role and status as a teacher. Teaching has been part of the work of the Church from its birth at Pentecost. In the present, as in the past, the word refers to the body of knowledge that is communicated through the curriculum of the College and also to the processes that are used.
In keeping with its mandate, the College seeks the integration of culture and faith as well as the integration of faith and life. By doing so, the didache embraces all aspects of teaching and learning. Through instruction in its various forms and through study, the didache incorporates all that is related to evangelisation.

The Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) will:

• encourage and support the structured reflection on the Catholic nature of the curriculum.
• facilitate analysis of the curriculum in the light of the Gospels.
• foster the inculturation of the Gospel message.
• look after Accreditation and make sure that records are maintained.
• coordinate the involvement of the College in the pre-service teaching programmes conducted by the universities.
• organise Staff Retreats.
• assist the Religious Education Coordinator with the development of the Religious Education programme.
• develop an approach to retreats for students that is consistent with the principles of catechesis outlined in the General Directory for Catechesis.
• undertake whatever tasks the Principal determines that relate to didache.

Kerygma – the curriculum of proclamation

Kerygma is a hallowed part of the Christian tradition. Based on the Greek notion of the act of proclamation, entrusted to a herald, kerygma has always been taken to be what is proclaimed and the act of proclaiming. Each day, the College proclaims that God became human in Jesus and that God also is enfleshed in the words proclaimed about this amazing presence in the world. God’s word becomes incarnated in those who have faith in God. Those who form the College community have the opportunity to be the subjects who speak the word, the mediators who reveal God’s presence and the listeners who hear God’s word.

The Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) will

• ensure that opportunities are provided for members of the College community to understand and appreciate that God speaks through them.
• provide opportunities designed to help staff and students appreciate the importance of silence in the work of remembering, hallowing and blessing.
• encourage and assist staff and students to plan and initiate social justice initiatives as part of the life of the College.
• undertake whatever tasks the Principal determines that relate to the proclamation of the coming of God’s rule.

Diakonia – the curriculum of service

The first Christians used the Greek word diakonia to refer to the many ways they ministered to others, particularly to the poor and the sick. They even used the word to describe the actions of Jesus as he ministered to those in need. Harris (p. 104) identifies the curriculum task associated with diakonia as “remembering and re-integrating compassionate service” as a core activity of the Christian community. At the heart of service is the appreciation for the grace and gift of each life.

The Assistant Deputy Principal (Ministry) will:

• coordinate the implementation, development and maintenance of KolbeCare, the College service learning programme that will operate at each year level.
• assist the Religious Education Coordinator in the development of components of the Religious Education programme that support KolbeCare.
• maintain contact with service organisations and groups in the wider community and facilitate the entry of students into the work of such organisations and groups.
• actively support staff and students who seek to involve themselves and others in opportunities to serve the needy in the wider community, eg, the involvement of the College with the Winter Appeal and Christmas Appeal run by the St Vincent de Paul Society, with the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, with donating blood, and with the groups supported by the Houses.
• undertake whatever tasks the Principal determines that relate to the service of others in the College community and the wider community.

The Life of St Maximilian Kolbe

In the mid-eighties of last century, a group of concerned Catholics in the Rockingham area formed a committee for the purpose of lobbying the Catholic Education Commission to establish a Catholic secondary school in their area. Fr Finbar Walsh, parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Rockingham, recommended that the proposed school be named after the newly canonised saint Maximilian Kolbe. He was inspired by the man’s faith and his devotion to Mary; it was his hope that those who attended the school would also be inspired by his example to embrace their faith with greater fervour. So, who is St Maximilian Kolbe?

The following outline of the life of St Maximilian Kolbe has been compiled from:
Ricciardi, Antonio (1982). St Maximilian Kolbe: apostle of our difficult age. Boston: Pauline Books & Media.

1894
Raymond Kolbe was born on January 8th in Zdunska-Wola, Poland. His parents were Jules and Marie Kolbe. They lived in rented accommodation and operated a weaving business. Raymond had an older brother named Francis. His younger brother was Joseph. Valentine died as an infant and the youngest, Anthony, died at the age of four.

His parents moved the family to Pabience, a nearby village where the rented a small house and continued their weaving business. They also opened a small shop and rented three vegetable gardens.

1904
Raymond had a vision of Mary who presented him with two crowns, one red and the other white. She asked him which one he wanted. He chose both crowns.

1907
Francis and Raymond entered the Franciscan Order and attended the minor seminary in Lwow. Joseph followed a few years later.

1910
On September 4th, Raymond received the religious habit of a Franciscan Friar and chose Maximilian as his religious name.

1911
On September 5th, he made his simple profession, vowing himself to the practice of the virtues of poverty, chastity and obedience, according to the rule of St Francis and the Constitutions of the Friars Minor Conventual, a branch of the Franciscan Order.

1912
Friar Maximilian was sent to Rome to study theology ad philosophy.

1914
On All Saints Day, Friar Maximilian made his solemn profession and added the name of Mary to his religious name: Friar Maximilian Mary Kolbe.

1917
On January 20th, the 75th anniversary of the apparition of Mary to Alphonse Ratisbonne in the Church of S. Andrea della Fratte in Rome, Friar Maximilian was inspired to found the Militia Immaculatae, or Knights of the Immaculata movement, and to choose the Miraculous Medal as the shield and insignia of the Knights.

1918
On April 28th, the feast of St Paul of the Cross, Friar Maximilian Kolbe was ordained a priest. He was one of a hundred men ordained in Rome on that day.

1919
Fr Maximilian was granted his doctorate in philosophy and his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. On July 23rd, he left for Poland.

He taught theology and philosphy at the Franciscan Seminary in Krakow and established the first Marian "focus groups" there.

1920
On August 11th, he was admitted to a sanatorium in Zakopane where he was treated for tuberculosis.

1922
He returned to Krakow and published the first edition of The Knight of the Immaculata. This became the monthly publication of the Militia Immaculata (MI).

1926
On September 19th, he returned to the sanatorium for convalescence and remained there until April 13th, 1927.

1927
Having purchased a printing press, Fr Maximilian published two monthly magazines: The Knight, which was the official publication of the MI; and The Seraphic Flame, which was the official magazine of the Third Order of St Francis. The Knight had a circulation of 60,000 copies. Fr Maximilian had 17 friars working with him. In Poland, there were 126,000 members in the MI.

In November, Fr Maximilian moved his printing works to Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculata) near the town of Teresin. He had started out in 1922 with one suitcase. When he moved to Niepokalanow, it took 8 railcars to transport the publishing house he had established.

1929
Two houses of formation were established at Niepokalanow, one for Franciscan Brothers and another for those wanting to be ordained to the priesthood in the Franciscan Order. Fr Maximilian was in charge of the formation of those who entered the Order and studied at Niepokalanow.

1930
On February 26th, Fr Maximilian and 4 Brothers set out for Japan to establish another City of the Immaculata. They landed at Nagasaki on April 24th.
Fr Maximilian wrote The Knight in Latin and his students translated it into Japanese. The first edition of The Knight in Japanese was published on May 24th. It was called Seibo No Kishi.



1931
On May 16th, the Japanese City of the Immaculata, known as Mugenzai No Sono, was opened. It was built on the slope of Mount Hikosan, in Hongochi, a suburb of Nagasaki.

1932
Fr Maximilian went to India to investigate the possibility of establishing the MI there. The political situation in Europe prevented its establishment even though he had support from his Order and from the Church in India. In 1981, two friars from Malta set up Nirmalaram ("Garden of the Immaculata") in the town of Chotty in India.

1933
The monthly circulation of Seibo No Kishi reached 50,000 copies.
Fr Maximilian returned to Poland for the General Chapter of the Franciscan Order. He returned to Japan to continue the work of the MI in that country.

1936
On May 28th, Fr Maximilian returned to Poland to participate in the Franciscan Provincial Chapter. He was elected to the position of "Guardian of Niepokalanow" and never returned to Japan. The community grew in size under his leadership. By 1939, there were 762 Franciscans living and working there.

1939
On September 1st, Germany invaded Poland. The German army advanced on Warsaw. Niepokalanow is situated about 40 kms out of Warsaw and it was surrounded by the invading army.

On September 5th, Fr Maximilian sent most of his community away from Niepokalanow and maintained the property with the help of 50 Brothers and 5 priests. They took care of the sick and the many refugees who sought sanctuary within its walls.

On September 12th, the German army occupied Niepokalanow.

On September 19th, all, except for two friars, were deported to the concentration camp at Amtitz in Germany.

On November 9th, they were transferred to Ostrzewrow in Poland.

On December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, they were released and allowed to return to Niepokalanow. Gradually, many of the Brothers returned to the community and its numbers rose to about 300 members.

1940
Niepokalanow became home to 2000 men expelle from Posnania and 1500 Jews who took refuge there.

On November 20th, the German Propaganda Office and the Gestapo gave Fr Maximilian permission to start publishing The Knight again. Only one issue came off the press.

1941
On February 17th, Fr Maximilian was arrested and taken to Pawiak prison in Warsaw.
On May 28th, he was transported to Auschwitz.

In July, he was moved to the hospital in the camp because he had been diagnosed with a lung infection and bronchitis.

At the end of July, he was discharged from the hospital and moved to Block 14.















On August 3rd, a prisoner escaped from Block 14 and the Commandant decided to punish the other prisoners by selecting ten men from the Block to be executed. One of the condemned men was Francis Gajowniczek, a sergeant in the Polish army. He had a wife and young family. Gajowniczek pleaded for his life. Fr Maximilian volunteered to take his place. The ten men, including Fr Maximilian, were stripped of their clothes and placed in a small cell without food or water. They were starved to death.

On August 14th, the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, only 4 men, including Fr Maximilian, remained alive. The director of the hospital at Auschwitz, injected carbolic acid into their veins and they died. Fr Maximilian's body was cremated in one of the ovens that burned day and night in Auschwitz.

1960
The cause for the beatification of Fr Maximilian Kolbe was officially opened in Rome on March 16th.

1971
On October 17th, he was beatified.

1982
On October 10th, Pope John Paul II canonised Fr Maximilian and proclaimed him a saint of the Church. His feast day is celebrated on August 14th.