Blessed Camillus Costanzo

Life story

Camillus Costanzo was born in 1571 at Bovalino in Calabria, Italy. He had been a soldier and a law student before joining the Naples province of the Jesuits in 1591. He was ordained a priest in 1602 and assigned to the China mission; he left Italy in 1603 and reached Macau about a year later, but the Portuguese authorities refused him entry to China.

He turned to Japan, learned Japanese quickly and worked with the Christians around Sakai. When missionaries were banished from Japan he spent six years in Macau, studying Buddhist texts and writing pamphlets in Japanese. At the end of 1621 he returned to Japan against the ban, disguised as a soldier. The ship's captain recognised him as a missionary, but he avoided arrest and settled on the island of Hirado as his field.

On 24 April 1622, after an informer reported him to the local governor, he was arrested at Hirado. He was condemned and burned alive on 15 September 1622. Pope Pius IX beatified him on 7 May 1867, among the martyrs of Japan.

Works and witness

• Joined the Jesuits in 1591 and was ordained in 1602
• Refused entry to China, he worked in Japan, notably around Sakai
• Spent six years in Macau after the banishment, then slipped back into Japan in late 1621
• Arrested at Hirado on 24 April 1622
• Burned alive on 15 September 1622

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• Jesuits Global, 'Blessed Camillus Costanzo'
• Wikipedia article on Camillus Costanzo (read in full; Bovalino, arrest, beatification 1867)
• Jesuit/other biographies via search (Jesuit Singapore), cross-check of arrest 24 April 1622

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.