NAGASAKI, Japan (UCAN) -- Asian Church leaders at the beatification of 188 Japanese martyrs spoke of the relevance of the martyrs' faith witness for Catholics today, inside and outside Japan.

Cardinal Seiichi Shirayanagi, retired archbishop of Tokyo, pointed out in his homily at the Nov. 24 ceremony in Nagasaki that the martyrs were chosen to represent the various parts of Japan and sectors of Japanese society.

Ordinary people and aristocrats ranging in age from 1 to 80, all laypeople except four priests and a brother, they represent around 50,000 Catholics killed in Japan from 1597 until Western nations pressured the Japanese government to recognize freedom of religion in 1873.

Pointing out that the martyrs included families, Cardinal Shirayanagi said the strong bonds that united these families of martyrs convey an important message today.

The prelate also contrasted the martyrs' willingness to die for their faith with the high rate of suicide in Japan today, where he said about 30,000 people take their life each year. Roughly the same number of people had come to Big N Stadium, the baseball park in Nagasaki, 970 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, for the beatification Mass, which 500 priests concelebrated.

"They [martyrs] are inviting us to seriously reflect on the fundamental questions about life: what is life, what is death, for what do we live, what is the purpose of life, what is the meaning of suffering?" Cardinal Shirayanagi said.

"They are calling us to work for a more just and humane world where every human being is respected, cared for and enjoys life. Dear brothers and sisters, let us journey together unafraid. The martyrs are telling us not to be afraid. God is telling us not to be afraid."

Bishop Thomas Dabre of Vasai, India, who represented the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) at the ceremony, said it testified to the Church's universality.

"[The Japanese blessed] show that the Church is not just Western but belongs to the whole world," he affirmed. The Indian bishop also reflected on the particular meaning of the beatification for Christians in his country, where he said they are currently being persecuted.

Numerous attacks on Christians and churches have been recorded in the last 10 years in India, where Hindu radical groups accuse missioners of using unethical means to entice poor Hindus and tribal people to convert to Christianity. At least 59 Christians were killed during a seven-week reign of terror in the eastern Indian state of Orissa beginning in late August. About 50,000 other Christians fled their villages to hide in forests or stay in refugee camps.

"We can draw strength and hope from the example of the Japanese martyrs," Bishop Dabre said.

Participants at the ceremony came from all over Japan and from abroad, including 230 pilgrims from South Korea.

During the beatification rite, within the Mass, Father Fernando Rojo, who coordinated the beatification process in Rome, introduced the martyrs as a group. Nine bishops in whose dioceses the martyrs were killed then introduced each of them individually.

Representing Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, read the pope's letter declaring that July 1 would be the memorial feast of Blessed Peter Kibe and the 187 other martyrs. Blessed Kibe is one of the four priests in the group.

Many among the 3,000 volunteers at the ceremony were not Christians. One of them, Etsuko Ikeda, 19, was one of 300 student volunteers from Nagasaki Junshin College, a Catholic school. She was in charge of escorting foreign visitors.

"There's so much to learn from the martyrs, so I wanted to have something to do with this," she said.

Vu Hong An, 34, said he made the decision to come to Japan from Vietnam only two weeks earlier. "It's the sort of ceremony you almost never get to take part in," he said.

Church dignitaries at the ceremony included Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and bishops representing the FABC and national hierarchies in Asia. Protestant representatives also attended, as did delegates from other religions. Japan's envoy to the Vatican, Ambassador Kagefumi Ueno, represented the government.

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