Cardinal José F. Advincula, Archbishop of Manila, blessed the statue of Blessed Justo Ukon Takayama during the Mass for its Enthronement at the National Shrine of Saint Michael and the Archangel San Miguel Pro Cathedral in San Miguel, Manila.
The event also marked the 40th anniversary of Takayama’s arrival in Manila together with 350 other Catholic Japanese exiles, the Japanese Embassy said.
The Mass was presided by Rev. Msgr. Mario D. Enriquez, shrine rector.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko, his wife, Yuko, and Ernesto De Pedro, a Takayama Ocon Trustee, attended the event.
Beatified in 2017, Takayama was a Catholic feudal lord and samurai exiled to the Philippines at a time when Christians were being persecuted during the Sengoku era in Japan, the embassy said.
The Sengoku was a century-long period of political upheaval and warlordism in Japan, lasting from the Onin War from 1467 to 77 through the reunification of the country around 1598. It was an era of civil war, in which the feudal lords of Japan fought one another in endless plays for land and power.
Takayama died in Intramuros on February 3, 1615. His statue was formerly located at the Philippines-Japan Friendship Park in Plaza Dilao, Manila.
Among the 42 Japanese saints and 394 blessed, Takayama was the only Japanese martyred outside Japan, the Japanese Embassy said.
He was also the only Cause for blessedness who was studied solo by the Vatican—a first instance in Japanese church history. All other Japanese Saints and Blessed are group martyrs, processed by the Vatican in four batches.
The Manila City Council in 2018, then-chaired by current Mayor Honey Lacuna authored a resolution declaring December 21 as Blessed Takayama Ukon Day in Manila.
Image credits: Roy Domingo
Statue of Japanese martyr Blessed Takayama enthroned in National Shrine of Saint Michael
Source: News Paper Radio
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