The Martyrs of New Guinea were Christians including

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, teachers, and medical staff serving in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

who were executed during the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

invasion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1942 and 1943. A total of 333 church workers including Papuans and visiting missionaries from a range of denominations were killed during the invasion.

Japanese Invasion

After Japan entered war in the Pacific on December 7th, 1941, many civilian populations of Australia's island territories were evacuated. There were fears people of European descent would be in particular danger - along with islanders and Papuans working alongside them - but no order was issued for the evacuation of missionaries. So, many Christians voluntarily chose to continue in their voication despite the approaching danger. In January 1942 the Anglican Bishop of New Guinea, Philip Strong, advised clergy and staff to faithfully remain working in New Guinea:

“One thing only I can guarantee is that if we do not forsake Christ here in Papua in His Body, the Church, He will not forsake us. He will uphold us; He will strengthen us and He will guide us and keep us though the days that lie ahead. If we all left, it would take years for the Church to recover from our betrayal of our trust. If we remain—and even if the worst came to the worst and we were all to perish in remaining—the Church would not perish, for there would have been no breach of trust in its walls, but its foundations and structure would have received added strength for the future building by our faithfulness unto death.”

The same month Japan captured

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

and began its campaign south to the capital

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. During the campaign hundreds of Christians were killed by the Japanese and collaborating Papuans.

Martyrs

Reported numbers of those killed varies, but the Anglican Board of Mission (Australia) follows the University of Papua New Guinea research that there were: * Roman Catholic - 197 * United Church - 77 * Salvation Army - 22 * Lutheran - 16 * Anglican - 12 * Evangelical Church of Manus - 5 * Seventh Day Adventist - 4

Anglicans

John Barge, priest Margery Brenchley, nurse John Duffill, builder Leslie Gariardi, evangelist and teacher May Hayman, nurse Henry Holland, priest Lilla Lashmar, teacher Henry Matthews, priest Lilla Lashmar, teacher Mavis Parkinson, teacher Vivian Redlich, priest

Lucian Tapiedi Lucian Tapiedi ( – 1942) was a Papuan Anglican teacher who was one of the "New Guinea Martyrs." The Martyrs were eight Anglican clergy, teachers, and medical missionaries killed by the Japanese in 1942 (a total of 333 church workers of all d ...

, evangelist and teacher

Catholics

, Australians and Europeans who weren't evacuated found refuge at the Vunapope Catholic Mission, until the Japanese overwhelmed the island and took them prisoner in 1942. The local Bishop Leo Scharmach, a Pole, convinced the Japanese that he was German and to spare the internees. A group of indigenous

Daughters of Mary Immaculate The Daughters of Mary Immaculate (french: Filles de Marie Immaculée, abbreviated F.M.I.) are a Catholic religious institute of Religious Sisters co-founded in 1816 by Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon and William Joseph Chaminade for the purpose of ...

(FMI Sisters) then refused to give up their faith or abandon the Australians and are credited with keeping hundreds of internees alive for three and half years by growing food and delivering it to them over gruelling distances. Some of the Sisters were tortured by the Japanese and gave evidence during war crimes trials after the war.

Legacy

In 1950 the Right Rev’d Dr Light Shinjiro Maekawa, Anglican Bishop of South Tokyo, sent a bamboo cross to the parishes of all the Martyrs as an act of reconciliation and repentance. A statue of Tapiedi is installed among the niches with other 20th-century Christian martyrs over the west door of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His killer, taking the name Hivijapa Lucian, later converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. He built a church dedicated to the memory of his victim, which grew to a diocesan center. However, the original building at Higatury was destroyed when

Mount Lamington Mount Lamington is an andesitic stratovolcano in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. The forested peak of the volcano had not been recognised as such until its devastating eruption in 1951 that caused about 3,000 deaths. The volcano rises to 1 ...

erupted on 21 January 1951 during a diocesan meeting, with considerable loss of life, so the church and center were rebuilt at

Popondetta Popondetta (sometimes spelled Popondota) is the capital of Oro (Northern) Province in Papua New Guinea. Popondetta is a city. In 1951 the city became the focus of relief efforts after nearby Mount Lamington erupted and killed 4,000 people. P ...

. Another church taking Lucian Tapiedi as its patronal saint is

St Lucian's Six Mile ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

in the Six Mile Settlement of

, north of

Jacksons International Airport Port Moresby International Airport , also known as Jacksons International Airport, is an international airport located outside Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. It is the largest and busiest airport in Papua New Guinea, with an estimated 1.4 mil ...

Veneration

The Martyrs of New Guinea are honored with memorial and

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

s on the calendars of many churches including the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

on September 2.

References

External links

Westminster Abbey: Lucian Tapiedi
{{Portal bar, Christianity, Saints History of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea in World War II 1942 deaths 20th-century Protestant martyrs 20th-century Christian saints Papua New Guinean murder victims People murdered in Papua New Guinea Civilians killed in World War II Anglican saints