Krzysztof Szwernicki

Father Christopher Szwernicki (; September 8, 1814 – November 26, 1894) was a Polish–Lithuanian priest of the Congregation of Marian Fathers. In 1849, he was deported to Irkutsk, where he worked until his death as a parish priest of the largest parish in the world (which occupied all of Siberia from the Arctic Ocean to China). In 1888 he was dubbed "Apostle of Siberia" by Pope Leo XIII.

Life Christopher Szwernicki was born on September 8, 1814, in the Varnupiai village near Marijampolė to Adam and Katarzyna née Woclawska. His birth name was Joseph. At age 7, he went to school at Marijampolė, first to grammar school for three years, and then to the middle school run by the Marian Fathers in their monastery. and installed a harmonium, made in the Debain's factory in Paris.

In 1855, Szwernicki, like most Polish political exiles, was pardoned by the Tsar, but he elected to stay in Irkutsk. In 1859, under orders from Governor-General Muravyov, he journeyed through Siberia to provide spiritual care for Catholic soldiers. In his pastoral care he met (a future saint and a Carmelite friar) Raphael Kalinowski, who was exiled to Siberia after the January Uprising.

In 1881–1885, Swernicki built a new church in Irkutsk. The previous one, which had been built of wood, was burned in the large conflagration of the town in 1879. He also built and then ran an orphanage.

In January 1894, Szwernicki was brutally attacked and beaten. He never recovered from his injuries and died on November 26, 1894. He was buried in the Irkutsk church.

Six years after his death, Benedykt Dybowski said of him, "By 40 years, when he was a parish priest in one of the largest parishs, Siberia, he saw little happiness among people, but much more times he witnessed to continuous heavy and extreme poverty, many bitter tears and often to pessimism. Although he was continuously contacted with disaster, he had never been neutral its audience. On the contrary, while he was experiencing deep torment of exile's life, he, with all his forces and possibility, tried to help suffering, everywhere, he was. by giving them alongside material support, spiritual comfort together with this quiet exposed hope, which only one can prevent people from pessimism and despair."

Awards Szwernicki was awarded: 1857 - by the Consistory of Mohylew, a cross and an order for his participation in the Crimean War 1870 − the third class Order of St. Stanislaus 1879 − a third class Order of St. Anne 1888 − Pope Leo XIII titled him the "Apostle of Siberia"