The Martyrs of Japan: Champions of the Faith by Ben Broussard March 26, 2024

 The Martyrs of Japan: Champions of the Faith

by Ben BroussardMarch 26, 2024

The Martyrs of Japan: Champions of the Faith

It was March of 1585. After three exhausting years spent traveling halfway around the world, Julian and his friends, all Japanese converts to the Catholic Faith, looked out on Rome. They were probably the first Japanese to gaze on the Eternal City, which seemed like something out of a dream. As they arrived, a large crowd gathered to welcome them in the evening twilight. Julian and his fellow Japanese nobles were escorted by the cavalry of the Pontifical Army. Trumpets blasted and torches blazed before them in the magnificent Jesuit Church of the Gesù; a solemn Te Deum resounded in thanksgiving for their arrival.

Julian eagerly awaited meeting the Holy Father the next day, so much so that he could hardly sleep. In the morning, he and his entourage were met by the ambassadors of the Catholic powers of Europe. The Papal Guards led the grand procession through the streets. As they approached Castel Sant’Angelo, the cannons fired in salute. Entering the Vatican Palace, Julian and his fellow Japanese prostrated themselves before the Holy Father’s throne.

Pope Gregory XIII rose, bedecked in papal tiara and flowing robes of state. With tears in his eyes, the aging pope raised Julian from the floor and embraced him. He did the same for the others in the entourage, the first of the Holy Father’s Japanese children to have the honor.

Julian, at long last, solemnly presented the letters of the Catholic princes whom he represented. Through an interpreter, he declared: “Your Holiness, we come in our own names and in the names of our princes to acknowledge you as the Vicar of the Son of God on earth, and to pay you the homage of the Christians of Japan.”

Seeking Peter’s Blessing

Julian Nacaura, Mancio Isto, Martin Fara and Michael Cingina had left their homes in Japan in the spring of 1582. Though their mission took three years of traveling to fulfill, here they were, standing before the Vicar of Christ. After a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father conversed with them at length on the needs of the Church in Japan.

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Pope Gregory was gladdened at hearing reports from these serious young men and zealous Catholics. With over 300,000 in the ranks of the baptized, growing seminaries and many converts of influence, the Church in Japan was the largest in Asia. Pope Gregory listened intently as they related their hopes for Japan’s conversion.

Remaining in Rome for some time, the Japanese visited many places of pilgrimage, including the catacombs and tombs of the holy martyrs. The four young Japanese knelt before the shrines of their forerunners in the Faith. Little did they know that Julian Nacaura would one day join the ranks of the martyrs.

Three weeks later, Pope Gregory XIII passed away. His successor was Pope Sixtus V. The new pope immediately called an audience with the Japanese entourage. He imparted the apostolic benediction and gave them places of honor at the awe-inspiring Papal Coronation.

A few days later, Pope Sixtus made the four young men the first Japanese Papal Knights. They knelt before the Holy Father and swore to defend the Faith with their lives. After assisting at a Solemn Mass and receiving the Sacred Host from the hands of Pope Sixtus, the four young men departed to bear the Apostolic Blessing to the Catholics of their country.

Their journey from Japan to Rome had taken three years and two months. The return journey would take even longer. Having left Nagasaki in 1582, they did not see Japan again until 1590. Their return marked the start of brutal persecution.

Brutal Persecution and Martyrdom

Saint Francis Xavier had arrived in Japan in 1549. The Jesuit mission in the country soon flourished. Every kingdom on the islands had large groups of Christians. Trouble began in 1580 as Catholics grew in number. Dutch merchants began spreading lies, insisting the Catholic Jesuits were the means for subjecting Japan to European rule.

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The Japanese prince, Taicosama, who came to power by defeating other princes in battle, began to pressure Catholic nobles to abandon their Faith. In 1587, he issued an edict of banishment against foreign Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans, forcing most into exile. Twenty-six of their residences and more than 140 churches were destroyed.

In 1590, the news of the arrival of the four young nobles from their embassy to the Vatican soon spread. Advisors close to Taicosama lied to him, saying that they had gone to Europe to hand over Japan’s sovereignty to foreigners of the West.

At Taicosama’s orders, soldiers soon arrested all of the clergy in the kingdoms of Osaka and Miyako (modern-day Kyoto). Taicosama next issued an order outlawing the Christian religion. He ordered that six European Franciscan missionaries, three Japanese Jesuits and fifteen Japanese laymen, including three young boys, be executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki. They were transported more than 500 miles and exposed to the insults of the people as they passed. Onlookers were astonished to see looks of profound joy on their faces, knowing they would shed their blood for Jesus Christ.

The three youngest prisoners, Thomas age 14, Anthony age 13, and Louis age 11, tied together in the same cart, began singing the Pater Noster and the Ave Maria when they passed through the cities. The multitudes were filled with admiration.

Two young Japanese Catholics, Peter Sekugiro and Francis Fahalente, followed the condemned religious the entire way. The guards tried in vain to make them leave. Peter and Francis were thus also condemned, bringing the total to 26.

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On February 5, 1597, they were led to a hill overlooking Nagasaki where crosses had been prepared for them. They all began to weep tears of joy. Each embraced his cross and kissed it. They were tied to the crosses with coarse cords and lifted up. Father Peter Baptist intoned the canticle Benedictus, which the others joined in. One by one they were pierced through with two lances which, thrust into their sides, crossed each other at the breast and came out through the shoulders. Eyewitnesses said that a heavenly light surrounded their bodies. Faithful Catholics soon approached and gathered the blood of the martyrs.

The Blood of Martyrs: Seed of the Church

Word spread quickly of this first martyrdom. Thousands of Japanese soon flocked for instruction in the Faith, edified by the heroic example of the martyrs. Miracles worked through the prayers of the martyrs became numerous.

Japanese Catholics began to invoke the new martyrs for the grace to suffer and die for Jesus Christ. Our Lord granted their splendid petition in short order. In honor of Our Lady, communities were formed with the particular intention of praying for the fortitude necessary to die for Christ.

The death of Taicosama in 1598 brought no relief to the Catholics of Japan. Daifusama soon replaced him, the first ruler of the Tokugawa Shogunate. This dynasty ruled Japan throughout the 17th century, multiplying the attacks on the Catholic faithful.

Intense pressures were put in place for Catholics to renounce their faith. Officials rounded up the faithful and forced them to step on crucifixes or holy objects as a sign of their repudiation of the Faith. The weak among them relented, but large numbers of the devout refused, marking themselves for death.

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When the clergy were expelled, a poor blind man named Damian began to teach catechism and baptize, encouraging his fellow Christians. The local prince offered him great gifts if he would give up his faith, and threatened him with death if he refused. He quickly replied: “You give me the choice of life and death. It is death I choose, and I prefer it to all the goods you promise me.” He was led out to a place of execution, and his executioner told him he could still be saved should he deny his faith. Damian answered: “I am a Christian. Do your work.” He was then beheaded.

Nobility of Japan Martyred

Near Arima, there were eight noble families condemned to die for refusing to renounce their faith. Twenty thousand Christians soon appeared to accompany them to their deaths. They formed columns singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin as they approached the place of execution.

The youngest, James, was asked if he would like to be carried as he became tired from walking. He replied: “We are imitating our Captain who ascended Calvary on foot. Now we must labor; eternity will give us a long rest.” When others wept at seeing him condemned, he chastised them: “Why do you weep? Do you not envy my happiness? Walk merrily, as you see me doing.”

Approaching the place of execution, the condemned kissed the stakes they would be tied to and burned. Leo Caniemon spoke boldly to the crowds of Christians there: “My brethren, the Christian religion is the only one in which we can be saved. Persevere in the faith. Let not our torments frighten you. The sufferings are light and short. The reward is great and is eternal. Be you the witnesses that we die for faith in Jesus Christ.” The fire beneath them was lit, and all the Christian onlookers fell on their knees. The remains of the martyrs were taken to Nagasaki and buried beside a church.

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The following year, any samurai who refused to renounce Christianity was stripped of his title and banished. A famed samurai named Justo Takayama faced exile for his refusal to abandon his faith. He and 300 Japanese Catholics set sail from Nagasaki, never to return.

Throughout the decade of 1620, new persecutions arose, and larger numbers of Catholics were executed. On just one day in 1622, twenty-five religious were burned to death after witnessing the beheading of thirty Japanese faithful.

A Fate Worse than Death: Torture

A new edict came from the emperor: the Christians should no longer be put to death but tortured until they renounce their faith. At Mount Ungen near Nagasaki, hundreds of Christians were tortured with flames, lashings, boiling water poured over their heads, and all manner of cruelties. Many of those tortured died from their wounds. Father Anthony Iscida, a Japanese Jesuit priest, spent three years in prison, after which he was taken to Mount Ungen. All his limbs were dislocated, and sulfuric waters were poured over him for thirty days. He was finally burned alive.

In 1633, Julian Nacaura was led through Nagasaki to be executed. Though far from the Rome of his earlier travels in time and distance, he was closer than ever to the Eternal City in his heart. He was now a Jesuit priest, and was the last remaining in the country. He reminded those he passed that he was among the first Japanese sent to Rome, and was glad to give his life for Christ. Julian was hung head down in a pit, and died after three days of agony.

Shimabara: The Catholics’ Last Stand

For years the Catholics of Japan had suffered persecutions with heroic patience. However, the Catholics of the south soon took up arms against their cruel overlord. Early in 1643, more than 35,000 Catholics rose up and occupied the fortified town of Shimabara, which they held for several months.

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The Tokugawa Shogunate sent an invasion force to put down this rebellion. 125,000 troops surrounded Shimabara for a lengthy siege. Shiro Amakusa, a samurai who had lost his position, led the Catholic army to inflict heavy losses on the enemy. He famously cried out during a skirmish, “We would rather die one swift death than a thousand slow ones.”

The Catholics held out for some time. However, the Protestant Dutch landed with their heavy cannons and breached the walls. Men, women and children were massacred. The remaining 4,000 Catholics taken prisoner were transported to the rock of Papenburg overlooking Nagasaki harbor. The last survivors of Shimabara were hurled to their deaths from a high cliff.

Underground “Treasure” Discovered—200 Years Later

The Tokugawa Shogunate fully implemented a policy of isolation that lasted 200 years. Only the Dutch were allowed to maintain a trade mission in the country; all other Europeans were banned. The Jesuit clergy, who would attempt to enter undetected during this time, were all arrested and executed.

Catholicism in Japan went underground for two centuries. In 1867, the Japanese policy officially changed, and religious were allowed back into the country. Priests of the Foreign Mission Society of Paris were the first to arrive and erect a church at Nagasaki. To their great surprise, many Japanese approached, asking if they were celibate and venerated the Blessed Virgin.

Upon investigating, the European priests were shocked to find large communities of believers numbering in the thousands. For centuries they had preserved the sacrament of baptism. Every Catholic they questioned knew the catechism and prayers in Japanese and Latin by heart.

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The missionaries soon sent word to Europe of the incredible preservation of the Faith in Japan. Catholics deprived of priests for 200 years had faithfully clung to the Faith and passed on Church teaching intact. Pope Pius IX, on hearing the report, declared it a miracle.

Future Workings of Grace

From the first baptisms by Saint Francis Xavier in 1549, enemies of the Church have been working to extinguish the Faith in Japan. In spite of brutal persecutions, however, the Faith lives on.

Catholics in Japan today make up less than 2% of the population. Through centuries of imposed cultural uniformity, most modern Japanese show little openness to conversion.

God’s ways are not our ways, however. Through the heroic sacrifices of thousands of martyrs, many known only to God, a glorious future period will certainly come to Japan. Contrasting their centuries of isolation, a Christian civilization will one day take root in Japan, sending out missionaries to spread the Gospel.

The Japanese martyrs are now glorifying God forever and stand ready to intercede for us in these dark times. Let us continually beg them for the fortitude needed to be faithful unto the end.

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Martyred in Defense of Marriage: The Story of Father Pedro de Corpa and His Companions in Georgia by Edwin Benson February 28, 2025

 Martyred in Defense of Marriage: The Story of Father Pedro de Corpa and His Companions in Georgia

by Edwin BensonFebruary 28, 2025

Martyred in Defense of Marriage: The Story of Father Pedro de Corpa and His Companions in Georgia

On September 13, 1597, a Guale warrior named Juanillo attacked and killed Father Pedro de Corpa in what is now the state of Georgia.

On January 27, 2025, Pope Francis authorized a decree designating Father de Corpa and four companions as martyrs. The four-and-a-quarter-century trip between those two points illustrates the power of virtue over what many consider politically expedient.

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The Guale were an Indian tribe located along North America’s Atlantic coast, primarily in Georgia. Its name is unfamiliar because the tribe slowly declined throughout the seventeenth century due to a combination of disease and warfare with other tribes. By the time the English established the Georgia Colony in 1732, the few surviving Guale descendants had been absorbed into different tribes.

A Tribal Dispute

However, for about a decade before 1597, Spanish Franciscan missionaries worked extensively with the Guale and other tribes along the coast, operating out of today’s Saint Augustine, Florida. That mission system resembles the one Saint Junipero Serra established in California almost two hundred years later.

Juanillo was a man of considerable influence in the Guale world. His father or uncle—sources disagree—was Don Francisco, the cacique (chief) of the Guale village of Tolomato, located about fifty miles south of Savannah. Most assumed that Juanillo would one day take the cacique’s position. At some point, Juanillo was baptized and later married inside the Church. However, polygamy had been rampantly practiced among the Guale before their conversions. Juanillo decided to take a second wife.

Fray Pedro de Corpa1 was in charge of the nearby Tolomato mission. He immediately objected, publically rebuking Juanillo’s marital infidelity. When Juanillo persisted in his sinful behavior, Father de Corpa used his influence with the community to prevent the polygamist from undermining the faith in the thriving Christian community by becoming cacique.

A Martyrdom For God and Traditional Marriage

However, it was the Franciscan defense of marriage that incurred Juanillo’s wrath. While Father de Corpa said his morning prayers, Juanillo entered the priest’s dwelling and clubbed him to death.

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This murder was, however, only the beginning of what some historians call Juanillo’s Revolt and others refer to as the Guale Uprising. As long as any missionary was alive, Juanillo would never be able to live in his polygamous state.

While the Tolomato mission was predominantly Catholic, many non-Christian Guale lived in the woods outside of the mission. From these, Juanillo assembled a small band of followers. Over the next few days, Juanillo traveled around to the other Guale missions, killing—or convincing other Guale leaders to kill—Fray Blas Rodríguez, Fray Miguel de Añon, Brother Antonio de Badajoz and Fray Francisco de Veráscola.2

Additionally, a “white martyrdom”—one not resulting in death—awaited Fray Francisco de Avila. He briefly escaped, was wounded, captured and enslaved. He lived on bits of food and wore scraps of cloth while he became a sort of common servant for the Guale village. All the time, the villagers mentally and physically tortured him in an attempt to force him to break his priestly vows. In June 1598—after nine months of captivity—a Spanish military patrol rescued the priest. He was eventually taken to Havana and, restored to health, wrote the only eyewitness account of any aspect of the Revolt.

The Aftermath

When news of the killings got to Spain, King Philip III’s first inclination was to abandon Florida. The colony was never economically successful, and now the natives were murdering the men sent to carry the True Faith to them. However, before acting on such a plan, the King sent Fernando de Valdés, the son of Cuba’s governor, to investigate.

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In his book, The Cross in the Sand, Father Michael Gannon relates that “Valdés, to his surprise, found the Franciscans optimistic about the future of the missions and unanimous in their opposition to any plan for withdrawal…. By the end of 1603, the rebirth of the Guale missions was well underway.” The Spanish missions continued to operate until 1686.

The Path to Beatification

The process of beatification has taken a long one. This is because the Church is always careful in such matters. She has always been reluctant to declare men saints without careful scrutiny.

The five “Georgia Martyrs,” as they are known, left very little evidence. There was no substantial written work, and only two of the bodies were ever found—many years after the brutal killings. Therefore, the Church could not exercise the care it usually takes in such matters. In such an important matter, inaction was preferable to error.

Recognition at Last

Thus, the causes of the five martyrs lay dormant for over three hundred years. Then, interest in the Catholic history of the southern United States grew during the mid-twentieth century. In 1950, the Diocese of Savannah opened the cause of the five martyrs and appointed a commission to gather the available evidence. Their story found a place in the 1957 publication of The Martyrs of the United States of America, edited by the Most Reverend John Mark Gannon, Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania. The Diocese of Savannah opened the cause and kept it active for decades. Finally, on September 14, 2022, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints approved the cause, paving the way to promulgating the January 2025 decree.

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With all of the twists and turns of Church procedure, one thing should not be forgotten. These five missionaries died in defense of Holy Matrimony. It may be that Our Lord withheld the recognition of these five exemplary men for a time like this when marriage is so roundly attacked. These five martyrs will be ardent intercessors in Heaven for all those seeking to live out God’s holy intention for the marital state and the conversion of those who do not.

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Footnotes

1. Most sources use the title “Fray” in connection with Pedro de Corpa and his companions. The title was common among Spanish Franciscans and is derived from the Latin term “frater.” The English equivalent is friar.
2. Some sources use the name Francisco de Beráscola. In Spanish, “v” and “b” at the beginning of a word sound alike and are often mistaken for each other.

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EPSTEIN SHOWDOWN: Pam Bondi Turns Kash Loose Against Rogue FBI Office In New York The rogue FBI is up to its old partisan games again Wes Walker February 28, 2025 143 2 minutes read

 

EPSTEIN SHOWDOWN: Pam Bondi Turns Kash Loose Against Rogue FBI Office In New York

The rogue FBI is up to its old partisan games again

 February 28, 2025 143 2 minutes read

Just because Trump has established new management does NOT mean that the deep state has been brought into obedience yet. The ‘resistance’ is making a desperate last stand.

That ‘last stand’ is being made on absolutely indefensible ground: concealing the evidence that would lead to incrimination and potentially the conviction of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates and criminal co-conspirators.

Trump has long promised transparency on issues the government has never quite come clean on. The big ones include JFK, 9/11, and of course the Jeffrey Epstein files. We remember, after Epstein died, how the world called BS on the contents of the safe on his island unaccountably going ‘missing’. Something about the warrant not covering the contents of the dead man’s safe.

Sure, Jan.

Fast forward to Feb 2025. Trump is in office, Mayorkas and Wray have packed their bags. Bondi and Patel are sworn in. An order went out to produce all of the information relevant to the Epstein case. Bondi, with a certain amount of fanfare, prepared a document for public release of the information we have so far.

It was anticlimactic. But a letter sent from Bondi to Kash Patel shines a lot of light on WHY there was so little meat on that bone: the New York office of the FBI has gone rogue, and is refusing to comply with lawful orders.

Here’s what the letter Pam Bondi sent him says:

Dear Director Patel,
Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein’s list of contacts, and a list of victims’ names and phone numbers.

I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents.

Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession
of thousands of pages of documents related. to the investigation and indictment. ofEpstein.
Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files. ‘When ydii
and I spoke yesterday, you were just as surprised as I was to learn this new information.

By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28; the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office~ including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained. There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access. The Department of Justice will ensure that any public disclosure of these files·will be done in a manner to protect the privacy of victims and in accordance · with law, as I have done my entire career as a prosecutor.

I am also directing you to conduct an immediate investigation into why my order to the FBI was not followed. You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days.

I appreciate your immediate attention to this important matter. I know that we are both committed to transparency for the American people, and I look forward to continuing to work ‘With you to• serve our President and our country;

This is exactly the kind of insubordination that makes Trump voters clamor for the swamp to be drained… and why we listen with interest when we hear indications that finally — at long last — some of these rogue political activists might be finally held accountable.

And Kurt Schlicter has one specific remedy that would make the ‘resisters’ sweat:

As Bongino likes to say ‘Cutesy Time Is Over’.

WINNING: Mexico Extradites Cartel Members To Face Justice In America Wes Walker February 28, 2025

 

WINNING: Mexico Extradites Cartel Members To Face Justice In America

 February 28, 2025

 57 2 minutes read

Under Biden, illegal aliens swarmed over the border from Mexico at the expense of American interests. Under Trump, criminals are being handed over from Mexico to advance those interests.

Pam Bondi’s DOJ made an announcement about the criminal cartels who have done so much harm to American interests. In this administration, the Mexican government has begun to cooperate in seeing criminal cartels pay a price for their crimes. It’s a small first step, but that step is in the right direction.

The Mexican government posted this picture:

From this press release are a few highlights:

Today, the United States secured custody of 29 defendants from Mexico who are facing charges in districts around the country relating to racketeering, drug-trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, money laundering, and other crimes. The defendants taken into U.S. custody today include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel). These defendants are collectively alleged to have been responsible for the importation into the United States of massive quantities of poison, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin, as well as associated acts of violence.

“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels. We will not rest until we secure justice for the American people.”
[…] Many of the defendants were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests that were not honored during the prior Administration, but that the Mexican government elected to transfer to the current U.S. government in response to the Justice Department’s efforts pursuant to President Trump’s directive in Executive Order 14157, entitled Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, to pursue total elimination of these Cartels. Federal prosecutors will evaluate whether additional terrorism and violence charges are appropriate based on the policy set forth in Executive Order 14157, and whether capital punishment is available based on Executive Order 14164, entitled Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety, as well as the Attorney General’s Feb. 5 guidance regarding the death penalty.

Time and again, Biden prioritized illegal immigration over and above the interests of law-abiding Americans. His policies enriched, emboldened and even entrenched criminal gang activity in American cities. More effort was made to criminalize Americans with the ‘wrong’ political opinions than to make sure those same gang members did not rob, rape, or kill American citizens.

Under Trump, those priorities are reversed. Cartels have been rightly called ‘terrorists’, and protecting Americans from their criminality has become the priority.