Paulo Miki

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Paul Miki
birth_date=1562
death_date=February 5 1597
feast_day=February 6
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=200px
caption=
birth_place=Tounucumada, Japan
death_place=Nagasaki, Japan
titles=Martyr
beatified_date=September 14 1627
beatified_place=
beatified_by=Pope Urban VIII
canonized_date=June 8 1862
canonized_place=
canonized_by=Pope Pius IX
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=

Paul Miki (1562 – 1597) was a Japanese Roman Catholic martyr and saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan.

Biography

Paul Miki was born into a rich family. He was educated by Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki. He joined the Society of Jesus and preached the gospel for his fellow citizens. The Japanese government feared Jesuit influences and persecuted them. Miki was jailed among others. He and his Christian peers were forced to walk 600 miles (≈966 kilometers) from Kyoto while singing "Te Deum" as a punishment for the community. Finally they arrived at Nagasaki, the city which had the most conversions to Christianity, and Miki was crucified on February 5, 1597. He preached his last sermon from the cross, and it is maintained that he forgave his executioners stating that he himself was Japanese. Alongside him died Joan Soan (de Gotó) and Santiago Kisai, of the Society of Jesus, in addition to twenty-three clergy and laity, all of whom were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862.

ee also

* Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument

References

*cite web |url= http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/Engmartstory.html|title= The Martyrs' Hill Nagasaki|accessdate=2008-03-19 |author= Diego R. Yuki, S.J.|work= |publisher=Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum
*cite web |url= http://saints.sqpn.com/saintp48.htm|title= Paul Miki|accessdate=2008-03-19 |author= Terry Jones|work= |publisher=Patron Saints Index