Blessed Luis Sotelo

Life story

He was born on 6 September 1574 in Seville, Andalusia. He studied at the University of Salamanca, became a Franciscan friar and priest, and was sent to the Philippines in 1600. He spent about four years in Manila learning Japanese before taking a leading role in the Japanese mission. His church in Edo was destroyed in 1612, after Christianity was banned in Tokugawa territories.

He served as translator and planner for the embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga, sent by Date Masamune on 28 October 1613. The party reached Madrid, where Sotelo arranged baptisms, and then Rome, where they met Pope Paul V. Sotelo hoped to become a bishop in Japan, but this never came about; he was suspected of seeking a see of his own, which fed Franciscan–Jesuit rivalry.

After the embassy returned in 1620, the Spanish authorities held him in Manila. In 1622 he entered Japan, was handed over to the Japanese authorities by Chinese merchants, and was imprisoned for two years at Ōmura. He was burned at the stake at Ōmura on 25 August 1624 with his religious companions; sources give his age as 49 or 50. Pope Pius IX beatified him in 1867.

Works and witness

• Studied at Salamanca, became a Franciscan and went to the Philippines in 1600
• Interpreter and planner for the Hasekura embassy to Madrid and Rome
• Hoped for a bishopric in Japan, which never came about
• Returned to Japan in 1622 and was imprisoned two years at Ōmura
• Burned at the stake on 25 August 1624; beatified in 1867

Saints from the same country

Saint Dominic, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Francis Xavier

References

• Japan's Christian Heritage, "Luis Sotelo" (japanschristianheritage.com)
• Encyclopedia.com, "Japan, Martyrs of"

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