1887 Pope approves beatification of Japanese martyrs
austraLasia #1887
Pope Benedict XVI approves beatification of
Peter Kibe and 187 other Japanese martyrs
ROME: 25th June 2007 -- The news that Pope Benedict
had approved the beatification of 188 17th century Japanese martyrs was
released on 1st June. A date has not yet been set for the
beatification; that will depend on discussions between the Vatican and
the Japaense Bishops Conference. What would be less well-known but of
interest to Salesian readers, is the role played by Bishop Osamu Mizobe
sdb, bishop of Takamatsu. Bishop Mizobe is president of the
special committee to advance the cause for beatification of the 188
martyrs.
The 188 martyrs were all persecuted for their faith
under the harsh repressive policies of the Tokugawa bakafu between 1603
and 1639. They are all Japanese, coming from all over Japan. They
include lay people male and female, adults and children; they also
include members of religious orders and priests, but by far the
majority were lay people. Peter Kibe, whose name heads the list, was
born in 1587 in Bungo (now Oita Prefecture) and was martyred in Edo
(now Tokyo) in 1639. Determined to become a priest and come to the aid
of his fellow Japanese suffering under severe persecution, he showed
dauntless courage in walking across a continent (from India to Rome) to
be ordained priest in Rome. Julian Nakaura (born in Nagasaki Prefecture
in 1568 and martyred in Nagasaki City in 1639) is famous as one of the
four youths who were sent on the first Japanese legation to Europe
(1582 to 1590), thus becoming one of Japan's first bridge-builders to
the Western world.
Bishop Mizobe helped his fellow bishops draft the
content of a message on freedom of faith earlier this year, reminding
them that "problems relating to freedom of religion and the separation
of the state and religion change in accord with state policy of the
time". The Press Release acknowledging the Pope's approval of the
beatification says that "the 188 martyrs were not political activists
fighting for their basic human rights, crying out against a regime that
denied them freedom of religion. They were people of deep and genuine
faith who staked their lives on what they believed. They give all of us
much to ponder". Important note: the SDL server is currently down, so apologies to
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attempting to access it. The amount of material now being added
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in operation later this week! _________________ AustraLasia is an email
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