Peter Kibe and 187 companions

The work of Peter Kibe lies in his heroic and clandestine pastoral ministry. Upon returning to a Japan where the practice of Catholicism was punishable by death, he traveled great distances to administer the sacraments and preach the Gospel in secret. Alongside him, the 187 companion martyrs (killed between 1603 and 1639) illustrate the depth of the implantation of Christianity in all layers of Japanese society during the Edo period. This group, whose cause for beatification was unified under the name of Peter Kibe and his 187 companions, includes: 109 men (among whom are 32 samurai, 7 catechists, 1 Jesuit brother, and 4 priests including Peter Kibe himself), 49 women (of whom 27 chose to die alongside their husbands), and 30 children and adolescents (aged 1 to 14, executed with their parents). These martyrs belonged to nine different dioceses of Japan, thus covering almost the entire archipelago (notably Kyoto, Yamagata, Kumamoto, Tokyo, and Nagasaki). They faced tortures of extreme cruelty: beheading, crucifixion, immersion in boiling springs, or death by slow fire while tied to stakes. Despite the violence of the repression, they chose the path of peaceful resistance and absolute fidelity to Christ.

For more than two centuries of total closure of Japan (sakoku), the memory of Peter Kibe and his companions was piously preserved in secrecy by the communities of Hidden Christians. In 1865, when Catholic missionaries were authorized to return to Japan, thousands of Christians emerged from the shadows, testifying to the uninterrupted transmission of the faith since the time of the martyrs. While several groups of martyrs of Japan were canonized as early as the 19th century (such as Saint Paul Miki and his 25 companions in 1862), historical research concerning the group of Peter Kibe was revived following the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Nagasaki in February 1981. Deeply moved by their testimony, the Sovereign Pontiff encouraged the Japanese episcopate to instruct their cause. The diocesan inquiry was officially opened in 1981 under the direction of the Archbishop of Tokyo. After examination by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the decree recognizing their martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith) was signed and promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI on June 1, 2007.

The beatification ceremony for Peter Kibe Kasui and his 187 companions took place on November 24, 2008, at the Big-N Baseball Stadium in Nagasaki. It was the very first beatification celebrated on Japanese soil. More than 30,000 faithful attended the celebration in pouring rain. The solemn mass was presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and special envoy of Pope Benedict XVI, in the presence of Cardinal Seiichi Peter Shirayanagi, Archbishop Emeritus of Tokyo, and numerous bishops from Asia. Their liturgical feast is set for July 4 (the day of Peter Kibe's martyrdom) in the Roman Martyrology, and is celebrated collectively on July 1 in the dioceses of Japan.

The figure of Peter Kibe, sometimes nicknamed the 'Japanese Marco Polo' or 'the Christian who walked across the world,' embodies an extraordinary spiritual determination. His willingness to travel thousands of kilometers on foot through hostile lands to receive ordination and return to serve his people at the risk of his life remains a model of missionary boldness. The legacy of this group of 188 martyrs also highlights the fundamental role of the laity and families as 'domestic Churches.' In the absence of priests and visible ecclesial structures for more than two centuries, it was within the homes, through the example of martyred parents, that the Christian faith was able to be preserved and transmitted in Japan. Their testimony of non-violence and freedom of conscience remains a major source of inspiration for the contemporary Japanese Catholic minority.