Blessed Alfonso Navarrete , also known as Alfonso Navarrete-Benito, sometimes latinised as Alphonsus, (1571 – 1 June 1617) was a Spanish nobleman, Dominican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, and missionary in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(1598–1610) and in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(1611–death), active during the anti-Christian persecutions of early Tokugawa Japan, in the Shogunate of Hidetada. Celebrated for his social work he has been called the ''

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...

of Japan'' and at some point became Master of the Order of Preachers in the country. He was executed by beheading in the

Ōmura Domain was a Japanese Han (Japan), domain of the Edo period. It was centered around Kushima Castle in what is now the city of Ōmura, Nagasaki and was ruled by the ''tozama daimyō'' Ōmura clan for all of its history. History The lineage of the � ...

on the orders of the Daimyo Ōmura Sumiyori on 1 June 1617. At the time of his arrest before his martyrdom he was travelling with two companions Blessed Ferdinand Ayala, an Augustinian friar, and Blessed Leo Tanaca, a lay catechist, and they are commemorated together annually on the 1st of June. These three companions are part of the larger group of

205 Martyrs of Japan 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

commemorated on the 10th of September. As the first Friar Preacher to suffer execution in the country, Alphonsus has the honour of protomartyr of the Dominicans in Japan. His example quickly became an inspiration to later missionaries to Japan from the Order of Preachers such as canonised saints Giordano Ansalone, Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia, Guillaume Courtet, and Lorenzo Ruiz. He is commemorated with the other Dominican friars and tertiaries martyred during the shogunate persecutions on the 6th of November.

Life

Alphonso was the son of a nobleman of the Navarrete family in the city of

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

sometime in the late 16th century, perhaps 1571. Presumably an eldest son, he gave up his inheritance to enter the Order of Friars Preachers at the Priory of San Pablo in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

at an early age. On completion of his studies for the priesthood he left as a missionary for the Far East in 1598, serving first in the

. His departure came just a year after the execution of the famous

26 Martyrs of Japan The were a group of Catholic Church, Catholics who were executed by crucifixion on 5 February 1597, in Nagasaki, Japan. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of the Catholic Church in Japan. A promising beginning to Catholi ...

in 1597. During his time in the Philippines he notably ministered in the Islands around

Cagayancillo Cagayancillo, officially the Municipality of Cagayancillo (), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 6,884 people. Located between the islands of Palawan and Negros in th ...

and Mapun (the Cagayan Islands). In 1610 Alfonso returned to Spain to recruit more missionaries. On his return voyage to the Orient in 1611 he requested a transfer to the missions of Japan, arriving in what is now the

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. His 6 years of missionary work undertaken in Japan was characterised chiefly by social work to some of the most vulnerable members of Japanese society, collecting abandoned babies and begging wealthy Spaniards for the finances necessary to support them. It was this work that earned him the epithet "Vincent de Paul of Japan". He also undertook the regular missionary work of baptising converts, saying mass, and where possible preaching. At some stage he became the Provincial Master of the Friars Preachers in Japan, thereby also becoming the head of the lay persons branch of the Dominicans, the

Third Order of St. Dominic The Third Order of Saint Dominic (; abbreviated TOP), also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic, Catholic third order which is part of the Dominican Order. As members of the Order ...

, and the Dominican Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. He tried to encourage the continued growth of the church in the heavily Christianised

, around

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. After rapid Catholic expansion under Japan's first Christian

Daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...

, Ōmura Sumitada, hostilities began to arise in 1606 after Sumitada's son

Ōmura Yoshiaki was a ruling head of the clan of Ōmura clan, Ōmura throughout the latter Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. As Yoshiaki was the respective son of Ōmura Sumitada, he followed his father in succession at some variable time, at which relations wit ...

apostatised from his Catholic faith. Alfonso encouraged Yoshiaki to return to the faith sometime between his appointment as head of the Dominicans in Japan and before the Daimyo's death but to no avail. Persecution exploded with new bravado and fervour after the young Ōmura Sumiyori succeeded his father as Daimyo. While there had been dangers throughout his 6 years in Japan, this period proved the most dangerous for Alphonso.

Martyrdom

On May 22, 1617, two priests, the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Blessed João Baptista Machado and a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

companion, were martyred at the young Daimyo's headquarters Kushima Castle in Ōmura. Alphonso decided to try and recover the sacred relics of the May 22nd martyrs and began journeying to the regional capital with two companions, Blessed Ferdinand Ayala, an Augustinian friar, and Blessed Leo Tanaca, a local Japanese

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek language, 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 Conversion to Christia ...

. They were captured on their journey, split up and tortured in different locations, and finally beheaded at various locations in the Ōmura Domain. An account from a 1901 compendium of Dominican Hagiographies describes Alfonso's death thusly: After execution Alfonso's body was thrown into the sea to prevent it from being venerated as a relic itself.

Veneration

Beatification

Alphonso was beatified by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

on the 7th of July, 1867 together with his two companions and many other Dominican martyrs.

Memorials

Alfonso is commemorated on three different dates in church calendars: on the 1st of June with Blessed Ferdinand and Leo Tanaca, on the 10th of September as one of the 205 Japanese Martyrs, and on the 6th of November as one of the 59 Dominican Martyrs of Japan.

Sources

In English

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In Italian

In Japanese

In Spanish

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarrete, Afonso Dominican martyrs Dominican missionaries Dominican beatified people 1571 births 1617 deaths