The 188 Martyrs of Japan (1603-1639) were lay people and religious priests who were killed because they believed in the Prince of Peace. They were beatified on Nov. 24, 2008, by Pope Benedict XVI.

The "Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan" are works by Christian artist Seikyo Okayama (1895-1977). They show a group of Christians crucified in Nagasaki in 1597.

At the conclusion of his address at the monument, the Pope stopped briefly inside the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum, considered the most prominent museum on Christianity in Japan.

Nagasaki's Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan, also known as Oura Church, commemorates the 20 Japanese and six foreign-born Christians martyred for their faith in 1597 after Japanese ...

Pope Francis remembered 26 Christians murdered more than 400 years ago as he visited the Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument on Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki. He also spoke of modern-day martyrs, religious ...

Oura Church, also known by its official name, Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan, was built in honor of those who were killed. Since its construction, it has received several honors, ...

Barely forty years after St Francis Xavier planted the faith in Japan, the young church in those islands witnessed to the faith with martyrdom. We remember today the ‘Twenty-six Martyrs of Nagasaki’, ...

The Twenty Six Martyrs Memorial St. Philip Church. In the late 1500s the national ruler Hideyoshi, suspicious of foreign influence, and to gain complete control over Kyushu, ordered to expel and ...

Pope Francis is in Japan for the final leg of a six-day trip to Asia, which began in Thailand. He will also go to Hiroshima before spending his final day and a half in Tokyo.

Places of major importance for Japanese Christianity, including the Nagasaki basilica commemorating 26 Catholic martyrs, have been selected as UNESCO World Heritage sites.