CANONIZATION OF BLESSED FRANCISCO PACHECO, MOTIVATES MEETING IN PONTE DE LIMA

• Chronicle of Tito de Morais

The canonization of Blessed Francisco Pacheco, born in Ponte de Lima and burned at the stake in Nagasáqui on June 20, 1626, will be the reason for a meeting in Ponte de Lima next summer, a source linked to the process confirmed in Rome.
The illustrious Limiano is one of the 205 martyrs of Japan, who gave their lives for the Faith during ten and a half years (1617-1632), a fearful period for the expansion of Christianity, under the powers of Hidetada (1579-1632) and Iemitsu Tokugawa (1604-1651), in Nagasaki and Tokyo. The martyred group was made up of 166 lay Christians, mostly Japanese, and 39 priests; of these, thirteen were Jesuits, twelve Dominicans, eight Franciscans, five Augustines and a single Japanese diocesan. The nine Portuguese missionaries, Jesuits, beatified by Pope Pius IX on July 7, 1867, are as follows: João Baptista Machado, priest, from the Azores, Angra do Heroísmo, killed by beheading in the city of Omura, on May 22, 1617; Ambrósio Fernandes, Jesuit brother, from Xisto or Sisto, Porto, deceased victim of mistreatment in the Omura prison on January 7, 1620; Francisco Pacheco, priest, from Ponte do Lima, burned alive at the stake in Nagasáki, on June 20, 1626. His feast takes place on June 20, and has a Memorial in the Diocese of Viana and also an Optional Memorial in the Society of Jesus; Diogo de Carvalho, priest, from Coimbra, died after being placed in an ice-cold tank in Xendai, on February 22, 1624; Miguel de Carvalho, priest, from Braga, burned alive in Omura, on August 25, 1624; His liturgical feast on August 25th will be solemnized this year at the Cathedral of Braga, on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of his martyrdom, according to information obtained in Rome. The Blessed from Braga has an Optional Memory in the Archdiocese of Braga and another in the Society of Jesus; add the Portuguese Augustine Beato Vicente Carvalho also referred to as Vicente de Santo António, born in Albufeira, Algarve and suffering similar suffering to Blessed Pacheco, that is, he was burned alive in Nagasáki, on September 3, 1623; and more Domingos Jorge, a lay Christian, born in Vermoim da Maia (Porto), also killed in the ordeal at the stake in Nagasáki, on November 18, 1619. The Porto native was in a relationship with a Japanese woman, who was baptized with the name Isabel Fernandes, and parents of a four-year-old son called Inácio. The wife and child were later executed, on November 10, 1622, by beheading.
Postulator of the Cause among the participants
One of the participants in the ceremony to be held in Ponte de Lima will be the Postulator for the Cause of Canonization of Blessed Pacheco, resident in Lisbon. Father João Caniço, until a few months ago parish priest of Lumiar, with whom we recently met to review activities and propose others, highlighted positive steps towards the intention, which he communicated to his superior and to Rome.
On the other hand, the representative of the Dicastery (the body that makes up the government of the Catholic Church or Vatican), highlighted to us today that, analyzing it carefully, “we are facing a renewal of the process, and not a new one, as it was opened more than 150 years, at the time of the beatification “of Pacheco and companions, by Pope Pius IX in 1867. On the other hand, it should be noted that they are martyrs, and the important thing is “that there is devotion, of which Ponte de Lima is a good example , as he has been encouraging him recently with this support group”, at a local and international level.
It should be remembered that prior to the actions carried out by the Gastronomy Club of Ponte de Lima, it is worth highlighting the placement of the image of Blessed Pacheco in the Parish Church of Ponte de Lima in 1938, and dedicating the former chapel of the Blessed Sacrament to him in 1965, in addition to identifying the place of birth, Quinta de Barros in Correlhã, by the architect João Abreu e Lima.
Meanwhile, we also learned that other promotional actions for the cult of the Limarense martyr will be presented at the Ponte de Lima meeting, to be communicated to Rome by next June.