| Saint Paulo Miki | |
|---|---|
| Martyr | |
| Born | c. 1562 Tounucumada, Japan |
| Died | February 5, 1597 Nagasaki, Japan |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | September 14, 1627 by Pope Urban VIII |
| Canonized | 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX |
| Feast | February 6 |
Paulo Miki (Japanese: パウロ三木; c. 1562[1] – February 5, 1597) was a Roman Catholic Japanese Jesuit seminarian, martyr and saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan.
Paulo Miki was born into a wealthy Japanese family. He was educated by the Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki. He joined the Society of Jesus and became a well known and successful preacher - gaining numerous converts to Catholicism. The Japanese daimyo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, fearful of the Jesuit's influence and intentions began persecuting Catholics. Miki was jailed, along with others. He and his fellow Catholics were force marched 600 miles (966 kilometers) from Kyoto to Nagasaki; all the while singing the Te Deum. On arriving in Nagasaki, the city with the largest Catholic population in Japan, 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. Crucified longside him were Joan Soan (de Gotó) and Santiago Kisai, also of the Society of Jesus; along with twenty-three other clergy and laity, all of whom were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862.
