Dear GD:

It is odd that Dr. Kreeft does not reveal who he is taking about. The only prominent Hindi in the 20th Century was Mahatma Gandhi, the man who led India to independence by means of non-violent civil disobedience and who inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world.

But, I would not say that Gandhi is the most notable in suffering. I would say the most notable person who was the brave soul that showed us the redemptive nature of suffering was St. Maximilian Kolbe, who like Christ, volunteered to suffer on behalf of others.

St. Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He did not have to do that. He could have suffered in the same way as all prisoners in the camp.

At the end of July 1941, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!", Kolbe volunteered to take his place. In the cell, he celebrated Mass each day and sang hymns with the prisoners.

He led the other condemned men in song and prayer and encouraged them by telling them they would soon be with Mary in Heaven. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied and they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary.

I pick St. Maximilian Kolbe over others who died in the camps because he went "beyond the call of duty." He volunteered for one of the worse ways to die—starvation.

There were many martyrs and those who suffered in the 20th Century. In fact, there were more martyr in the 20th than all the martyrs for the faith since A.D. 33 put together.

It is one thing to suffer or die for the faith, but it is quite another to volunteer for it when one does not have to. I am sure that there were many who volunteered suffering and/or death for the faith; St. Kolbe is just the most prominent. 

As far as who Dr. Kreeft is referring to, I have no idea.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary