(Nagasaki, 24 November 2008). Members of the Pauline Family were among those who participated in the beatification ceremony for Jesuit priest Fr. Peter Kasui Kibe and 187 Japanese martrys. The ceremony was presided by Cardinal Peter Shirayanagi Seiichi, Archbishop Emeritus of Tokyo. Representing Pope Benedict XVI during the events was Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins. Around 30 thousand faithful and 400 priests participated in the beatification rites.
Christianity came to Japan with the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1549. Blessed Peter Kibe was born just 38 years later on the same island of Kyushu where Xavier had landed. His parents, Romano and Maria, were first generation converts. The new faith spread rapidly. By 1568, there were 30,000 converts. By 1600, it had increased ten-fold to 300,000. But at the same time, there were persecutions.
Called “the man who walked the globe”, Blessed Peter undertook a remarkable journey along the arduous Silk Road in the 16th century in his quest of ordination to the priesthood. His statue stands in Oita, Kyushu, where he was born. His features are strong, with eyes fixed toward his one goal of becoming a priest to serve his God and church, and a determination etched on his face and in his stance. They convey the strength and conviction of a true man of God, who was willing to undergo all hardship and disappointment and years of waiting, even in final torture and martyrdom. Proving himself in the crucible of persecution, Blessed Peter is a wonderful example for the present generation of Catholics, especially the youth.
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