Catholic Fire

The saints of the day for February 6 are St. Paul Miki and companions. These twenty-six martyrs are sometimes called the martyrs of Nagasaki and the martyrs of Japan. St. Francis Xavier brought the Good News of Christianity to Japan in 1549. Many received the Word and were baptized by St. Francis himself. Although Francis moved on and eventually died near the shores of China, the faith had grown in Japan. By 1587 there were over two hundred thousand Catholics. Missionaries from various religious orders were there. Japanese priests, religious and lay people lived the faith joyfully. In 1597, forty-five years after the arrival of Francis Xavier, a powerful Japanese official, Hideyoshi, listened to the gossip of a Spanish merchant. The merchant whispered that the missionaries were traitors of Japan. He suggested that these traitors would cause Japan to be defeated by Spain and Portugal. The claim was false and absurd. But as an overreaction, Hideyoshi had twenty-six people arrested....

During his most recent catechesis on Baptism, Pope Francis referenced the Japanese Catholics under persecution in the 17th Century. POPE FRANCIS "There were no priests left in Japan: they were all expelled. So then, the community went underground, keeping their faith and prayers hidden.” One of the Japanese Catholics that suffered most from outlawing Christianity was Ukon Takayama, the samurai of Christ. The Japanese Episcopal Conference has presented all the necessary documents to open the cause for his beatification. MSGR. JOSEPH MITSUAKI TAKAMI Bishop of Nagasaki (Japan) "He was a great witness to the Christian faith during this period of persecution in Japan, we could even say, in the history of Christianity in Japan. First, he clung to his faith without having doubts, without being swayed by any temporary wealth. He followed Jesus Christ at all times, and he lived a Christian life, according to the Gospel.” Takayama was born in Osaka in 1552. His family con...

The saint of the day for September 6th is Blessed Thomas Tzugi. Born to nobility and educated by the Jesuits of the Arima province around 1571, Thomas entered the Jesuit order upon the completion of his schooling at around 17 years old. He quickly developed a reputation for his excellent preaching and evangelical zeal. He was exiled to the island of Macao during a persecution of Christians, yet he managed to return to Japan in disguise and continue his priestly ministry. He was recaptured and sentenced to death, yet he refused to seek his freedom through his family’s political connections. He was burned to death at the stake in 1627 in Nagasaki, Japan, and was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1867.

After praying the Angelus, the Pope recalled the fact that tomorrow, November, 24, "the beatification will take place of 188 Japanese martyrs, both men and women, killed during the first half of the seventeenth century. On this occasion, so important for the Catholic community of Japan, I give assurances", he said, "of my spiritual closeness". Benedict XVI then went on to mention the fact that, on November 29, Br. Jose Olallo Valdes of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God will be proclaimed a blessed in Cuba. "To his celestial protection", he said, "I entrust the Cuban people, especially the sick and healthcare workers". View the Spanish version of Fray José Olallo Valdés . Speaking Spanish, the Pope directed a special greeting to Cuban pastors and faithful who will participate in the beatification ceremony at Camaguey, expressing the hope that "the intercession of the new blessed may help the Church in her evangelising mission, and brin...