Cause for Japanese martyrs is proceeding, says official

Published: 2006-06-13

ROME (CNS) -- The canonization process is proceeding for 188 17th-century Japanese martyrs who were decapitated, burned at the stake or scalded to death in the boiling water of a volcanic hot spring, said the promoter of the cause. Augustinian Father Fernando Rojo said the historical and theological commissions of the Congregation for Saints' Causes have issued opinions in favor of beatification, a step toward sainthood. However, the priest said that since the congregation's cardinal members and Pope Benedict XVI still have to approve the decree of martyrdom a beatification ceremony is unlikely to take place before May. The 188 martyrs include four Jesuit priests, other priests, brothers and nuns, lay men and women. They were killed in different cities between 1603 and 1639 after the Japanese government outlawed Christianity. In official terms, the martyrs' cause is referred to as that of Jesuit Father Petro Kassui Kibe and 187 companions.

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