Antoni Baraniak, SDB (1 January 1904 – 13 August 1977) was a Polish Salesian who served as the Archbishop of Poznań from mid-1957 until his death. Baraniak studied in Poland and in Rome prior to his ordination and served as the private aide to Cardinals August Hlond and Stefan Wyszyński; he was devoted to both men and served with both during World War II and the increasing communist repression. He served as a bishop in Gniezno before being appointed as an archbishop though just prior to that was arrested. The communist authorities interrogated and tortured Baraniak while he was imprisoned but remained silent and refused to tell his captors about the activities of prelates.
Baraniak's life has caused calls for his beatification to be made and it has been decided that the cause will be requested and then launched if it is approved.
Life
Education and priesthood
Antoni Baraniak was born on 1 January 1904 in Sebastianowo.
On 1 September 1917 he travelled to Oświęcim to commence his high school education under the Salesians of Don Bosco whom he decided to join when he decided he wished to enter the priesthood. Baraniak commenced his novitiate with the order in 1920 and made his initial profession on 28 July 1921. From 1921 to 1924 he attended the Philosophical College in Kraków where he obtained his diploma on 30 May 1924 before making his perpetual profession into the Salesians on 15 March 1925. He served also as a teacher in Klecza Dolna and in Warsaw from 1924 until 1927 when he was sent for theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he was stationed until 1931 upon earning his doctorate.
Baraniak received his ordination to the priesthood in the Carmelite church in Kraków on 3 August 1930 from Adam Stefan Sapieha. He was later appointed in 1933 to serve as the chaplain and private aide to Cardinal August Hlond and supported the cardinal during World War II that prompted them to flee Poland for a time. The two first fled to Romania before setting off for France where the two resided in Lourdes from 9 June 1940 until 1943 when the two spent their time living until mid-1945 in the Benedictine convent at Hautecombe. The two were in Paris sometime after this and left for Rome in May 1945 once the war on the European front had ended and the pair returned to their native Poland on 20 July 1945 to Poznań. He and Hlond had visited Polish refugees during the war and were involved with charities to alleviate the suffering of those displaced and poor.