Camillus Costanzo SJ (Bovalino Superiore, 1571 – Hirado, Japan 15 September 1622) was an Italian soldier, law student and Jesuit missionary in Japan. When he was burned alive in 1622, he became a Roman Catholic martyr.
Missionary
The Jesuit Order sent Father Costanzo to China; but the Portuguese prevented his entrance into that country.
Instead, he went to Japan. He learned the Japanese language quickly; and he successfully encouraged converts in the region near the city of Sakai.
When all missionaries were banished from Japan, he went to Macau.
Despite the dangers involved in ignoring the Tokugawa shogunate'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 Hirado 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.
Notes
- ^ Society of Jesus web site: Blessed Camillus Costanzo, Martyr of Japan.
- Merrick, D. A. (1891). Saints of the Society of Jesus, pp. 56-57.
- 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.
References
- Merrick, D. A. (1891). Saints of the Society of Jesus. New York: Benziger. OCLC 18953008
- 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. ISBN 978-0-829-41074-7; OCLC 38039730
External links
- Society of Jesus web site: Blessed Camillus Costanzo, Martyr of Japan
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- 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
- Italian religious biography stubs
- Roman Catholic biography stubs
- Japanese religious biography stubs