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Despite the light rain and chilly weather, about 30,000 believers turned up for the event, Asia’s largest beatification ceremony to date, held at a baseball stadium in Nagasaki prefecture.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins conducted the ceremony on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, and read a message from the pope. Of the martyrs he said, "They have shown us that love is much stronger than death by offering their lives with prayer. We are glad that their martyrdom for their faith has been officially acknowledged in the world."
Beatification is a form of recognition granted after death to those who performed miracles in their lifetime, or died as martyrs. It can lead to sainthood.
Amid a slump in Christian missionary work in the polytheist country, Japanese Christians hope the recognition will help them spread their faith. Only about 1 percent of Japanese are Christians.
Peter Kibe Kasui, one of four priests among the 188 martyrs, was the first Japanese to travel to Rome, journeying from Manila in the Philippines mostly on foot. He became a priest in Japan after returning home. Father Kibe is the inspiration for the hero in Christian novelist Endo Shusaku’s book, "Guns and the Cross," which gives a detailed description of a priest's anguish under severe religious persecution. Kibe was beheaded in 1639 after being tortured.
Forty-two people were named as saints of Japan in 1962 and 1987, and 205 were beatified in 1967. Most of them were priests or church leaders, and some were missionaries from other countries. However, apart from the four priests, the people recognized this time were ordinary Catholics, ranging in age from 1 to 80, who were tortured and killed for their faith between 1603 and 1639 throughout Japan.
The Catholic Bishop's Conference of Japan started the selection of suitable persons in 1981 when Pope John Paul II visited Japan. But it was not until June last year that Pope Benedict XVI approved the 188 to be beatified. The move was intended to encourage and boost the work of Catholics in Japan, experts say.
Professor Kentaro Miyazaki, a researcher of Catholic history at Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University, said the ceremony aimed to help Catholics proselytize their faith in Japan. He said the choice of ordinary followers for the beatification was intended to encourage ordinary Catholics.
"The ceremony will encourage church members and be a trigger to recover their vitality," Miyazaki said.
Christianity was introduced to Japan in 1549 by Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary, and was initially welcomed by feudal lords who were interested in international trade with Spain and Portugal. The number of followers peaked at 450,000 in 1610, according to Miyazaki.
However, feudal lords later came to see Christianity as a tool of European aggression. It was driven underground after being almost wiped out under constant persecution of its followers from 1614 to 1873, when the Japanese government authorized the practice of Christianity. Records show that over 5,000 Japanese were killed for refusing to give up their faith, but the number could be closer to 30,000 if unrecorded martyrs are included, Miyazaki said.
The world's largest religion attracts only a tiny minority of Japanese even now. Catholics and Protestants together account for less than 1 percent of Japan's population of close to 128 million. By comparison, Christians account for 85 percent of Filipinos and 30 percent of South Koreans.
"One reason that Christianity did not become popular is that Japanese treated the doctrine of monotheism, which required them to cut relations with other religions, too seriously," said Miyazaki. "Japanese seriousness became a barrier to the missionaries’ work."
Christianity spread widely in Africa as well as in Central and South American countries because they accepted its teachings based on their indigenous faith, the professor said. South Korea also succeeded in accepting Christianity without completely abandoning shamanism, an ancient belief system common in East Asia and based on communication with spirits.
"There is no precedent for people accepting a new religion or culture after completely abandoning what they had,” Miyazaki said. Still, the 188 martyrs stand as an example of people who came to value their newfound faith more than their lives. No doubt the Catholic leadership hopes that reflecting on their courage will inspire more Japanese to consider the teachings for which they died.
