Catholic Samurai's beatification in Japan
A Japanese Catholic Samurai who died in the 17th century in
exile, will be declared Blessed during a Mass in Osaka on Tuesday. Pope Francis
has sent Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, to preside over the Beatification Mass of Justo
Takayama Ukon.
Born into a family of landowners in 1552, Ukon converted to
Christianity at the age of 12 after coming into contact with Jesuit
missionaries. When Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi took power and prohibited
the practice of Christianity, Ukon refused to follow the great feudal lords
and abandon his faith. He lost his properties, position, social status,
honor and respectability and was eventually forced into exile. With 300 other
Japanese Christians he fled to Manila where, just 40 days after his arrival,
he fell ill and died on Feb. 4, 1615. Pope Francis signed a decree on
21 January 2016 clearing Ukon’s way for Beatification as a martyr.
Speaking about the missionary zeal of Ukon, Card. Amato told
Vatican Radio that he started seminaries in Azuchi, Takatsuki and Osaka.with
the purpose of training Japanese missionaries and catechists. Among these
seminarians, he said, were many martyrs, among them Jesuit St. Paul
Miki. Because of Ukon’s work, the number of Christians grew
dramatically in the region he was active, and in 1583 there were as many as
25,000 of them out of a population of 30,000. Ukon also found the Church
in Osaka. Between 1585 and 1587, some thousand faithful were baptized in
Akashi.
Argentine Jesuit, Father Renzo De Luca, the director of the
26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki said, "As a Christian, as a leader, as a
cultural person, as a pioneer of adaptation, Ukon is a role model and there
are many things we can learn from him.” “In this era of political
distrust, I think he will be helpful for people other than Christians,"
Fr. De Luca said.
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