Camillus Costanzo SJ ( Bovalino Superiore, 1571 –

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

, Japan 15 September 1622) was an Italian

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

law student Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular ...

and

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary in Japan. When he was burned alive in 1622, he became a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

.Society of Jesus web site
Blessed Camillus Costanzo, Martyr of Japan

Missionary

The

Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

sent Father Costanzo to China; but the Portuguese prevented his entrance into that country. Instead, he went to Japan. He learned the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

quickly; and he successfully encouraged converts in the region near the city of

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...

. When all missionaries were banished from Japan, he went to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

. Despite the dangers involved in ignoring the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

's exclusionary laws ('' sakoku''), he returned in 1621. Disguised as a soldier, he managed to elude capture until April 24, 1622 when he was arrested on the island of

off the western coast of Kyushu. He was condemned to death and was burned alive on September 15, 1622.

Beatification

Father Costanzo was beatified by Pope Pius IX on May 7, 1867.Tylenda, Joseph N. (1998). ''Jesuit Saints & Martyrs: Short Biographies of the Saints, Blessed, Venerables, and Servants of God of the Society of Jesus,'' p. 313.

Notes

References

* Merrick, D. A. (1891). ''Saints of the Society of Jesus.'' New York: Benziger. * Tylenda, Joseph N. (1998). ''Jesuit Saints & Martyrs: Short Biographies of the Saints, Blessed, Venerables, and Servants of God of the Society of Jesus.'' Chicago: Jesuit Way. ;

External links

* Society of Jesus web site
Blessed Camillus Costanzo, Martyr of Japan
1571 births 1622 deaths 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century Italian Jesuits 17th-century Italian Jesuits Jesuit martyrs Jesuit missionaries in Japan Italian soldiers Italian Roman Catholic missionaries People executed by Japan by burning Italian people executed abroad {{Japan-bio-stub