Isidoro Ngei Ko Lat (17 September 1918 – 24 May 1950) was a
catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
from
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
who was killed in 1950. He was beatified in 2014.
Biography
Isidoro Ngei Ko Lat was the son of
peasants and the priest Dominic Pedrotti
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
him on 7 September 1918. His parents died when he was young and both he and his younger brother were cared for by their aunt and uncle. By 1925, he began attending
primary school in his village.
As he grew older, he expressed a desire to serve
God and his vocation led him to the
minor seminary of
Saint Teresa where he studied for six years until
World War II started. During the war, he returned to his village and became a teacher where he opened a school for the village children.
In 1946, Mario Vergara arrived for his mission in Myanmar, and he met Ko Lat. He ultimately decided that Ko Lat would join him in his missionary work. After the 1948 independence of Myanmar, he and Vergara were threatened by the guerillas in Myanmar and the two were murdered.
[
]
Beatification
The
Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the cause of beatification which commenced on 23 October 2001. This bestowed upon him the title of
Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
.
Pope Francis approved his and Mario Vergara's martyrdom on 9 December 2013, thus, allowing for their beatification. Cardinal
Angelo Amato represented the pope at the beatification on 24 May 2014.
References
External links
Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isidoro Ngei Ko Lat
1918 births
1950 deaths
Beatifications by Pope Francis
20th-century venerated Christians
20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
People from Kayin State
Burmese Roman Catholics