Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
By decision decreed by Pope Leo XIV during the celebration of his first Ordinary Public Consistory, the martyr Peter To Rot, a native of Papua New Guinea, will be canonized on October 19 of this year, precisely on the Sunday on which the 99th World Mission Day is celebrated. On that same morning, the Blesseds Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, Vincenza Maria Poloni, María del Monte Carmelo Rendiles Martínez, Maria Troncatti, José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros and Bartolo Longo will be inscribed in the Book of Saints. A month and a half earlier, on September 7, the Italian Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis were also canonized.
But who was Peter To Rot? Just a simple catechist. During the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea, in the midst of the Second World War, the occupiers, seeking to gain the support and even the friendship of the local population, legalized polygamy, which had been prohibited by Catholic missionaries. Consequently, a large number of men began to put into practice again this custom that had long been rooted among the local population. However, there were those who opposed such a measure. This was the case of the catechist Peter To Rot – at the time only 30 years old. With all his strength he never tired of emphasizing “the unity and indissolubility of marriage”, emphasizing them as “typical characteristics of a marriage willed by God”. What is certain is that the audacious catechist convinced countless young women – “added as ‘second wives’” – to escape the ‘harem’ of married men and to deny the subordinate status. This, understandably, brought Peter To Rot countless enemies, among them very powerful men. They managed to imprison him and, finally, kill him, definitively silencing “his prophetic voice” with an injection of lethal poison. “The ‘boy from the Mission’ was very sick and died.” This was how police officer To Metapa expressed himself ironically when he went to make sure that Peter To Rot was really dead. Shortly before, the prison doctor had injected him with a supposed medicine and given him a syrup to cure a cold. The administration of these substances made To Rot vomit, and the doctor who was ‘assisting’ him instead of letting him expel it, covered his mouth…
What does the life of Peter To Rot tell the universal Church today? What can his life story teach us? When Pope Francis heard about Blessed Peter To Rot for the first time, he said: “This is the saint that the Church needs in these times.” Quite true: To Rot was a layman, married, father of three children, who died at the age of 33 in defense of marriage and the family. In these times, when marriage and the family are so attacked and suffer all kinds of distortion, the figure of this saint is a compass to which we can turn, to remember once again God’s original plan for the family and marriage.
In the case of the canonization of Peter To Rot, a dispensation for a miracle was requested. In an interview with the Fides news agency, Father Tomas Ravaioli, a missionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) and vice-postulator of the cause, explains the many difficulties encountered in certifying the miracle and why the dispensation was requested.
There are two important things to say about this. First, “an impressive number of signs and graces are attributed to the intercession of Peter To Rot”. The transalpine missionary prefers to call them “signs”, because miracles require ecclesiastical approval. In Papua New Guinea, people have received all kinds of signs through the intercession of the still blessed catechist martyr. Secondly, in this country, there are no hospitals, doctors or professionals who can testify or prove these signs, nor are there any written or documented records. This is because the people in the villages are very simple and follow an oral culture. This lack of resources makes it very difficult to “demonstrate” or “prove” a miracle. For this reason, “Pope Francis was asked for a dispensation from the requirement of miracles, as it would have been almost impossible to fulfill”.
The request for a dispensation from the miracle requirement was made in early 2024, with the hope that the canonization would take place during Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey. Although the favorable response to the dispensation arrived a few weeks later, “there was still much work to be done in the preparation of the Positio and in other matters”. During the papal visit in September 2024, Father Tomas Ravaioli had the opportunity to speak with the Holy Father, taking the opportunity to thank him for his help in the Cause, and he told him: “I myself want to canonize him”.
To Rot’s canonization is a great encouragement to all Papua New Guinean Catholics to continue striving towards personal holiness. “It reminds us that holiness is not a luxury but a necessity, and that if Peter To Rot could achieve it, we can too,” says the missionary. Furthermore, To Rot’s testimony proclaims loud and clear to the entire world that “God’s plan for family and marriage is one man and one woman for life, until death do them part.” The unity and indissolubility of marriage are constantly attacked, distorted and ridiculed by the modern world. Peter To Rot, having shed his blood in defense of these truths, reminds us that it is more important to obey God than men.
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