Publications

Helping the poor, needy and the destitute Brother Zeno Żebrowski became very famous in Japan. He was a friend of the Emperor Hirohito and his family. He was loved and admired by the Japanese people. The media reported almost daily on his charitable work. There are many press releases about him, and here you can find some of them.

There are many documents about Brother Zeno. Most of them are correspondence between Niepokalanow and the Franciscan Mission in Japan. Some of the letters are from his family. They are Brother Zeon’s official documents. Most of the documents are in a museum in Niepokalanów and Czarnia (Poland) as well as in Nagasaki and Tokyo (Japan). Only some of them are in the familys’ possession.

The charitable work of Brother Zeno became a source of inspiration to local authors who wrote books about him. While, most of the books are written in Japanese, some of them were translated into Polish and even into Italian. There is only one book about Brother Zeno originaly written in Polish by Fr Ludomir Jan Bernatek. Another book about Brother Zeno,by Iwona Merkejn, will be released in the summer of 2005. There are some master research thesises on brother Zeno which eventually could be published as books in the future. Some books written in Japanese Polish, English, Italian and German about Fr Maksymilian Kolbe and Reiko Kitahara also, partly speak about Brother Zeno.

In Japan as well as in Poland Brother Zeno’s legacy is being preserved in many ways. On the anniversary of his death, the Fuji Welfare Foundation and the Franciscan Fathers in Japan organise a yearly event commemorating Brother Zeno’s charitable work. Keeping the legacy alive, is also displayed by the yearly issuing of Br. Zeno memorabilia such as: Rosaries, T-shirts, hats, post-cards and such like items, many of which are presently in the possesion of Br. Zeno’s family. Commemorative celebrations are planned on this date in Br. Zeno’s home Parish in Czarnia (Poland). In other Polish cities, exhibitions in his honour are organized and special envelopes, post-cards etc, are printed for these occasions.