In 1992, St. John Paul II beatified 17 Irish martyrs who died between 1579 and 1654. They were Blessed Dermot O'Hurley and 16 companions. Today, June 20, the liturgy welcomes Irish and English blessed who defended their Catholic faith and refused to accept the Queen's religious supremacy. And also Japanese, clergy and laity.
The group of martyrs is headed by Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel, hanged in Dublin on June 20, 1584, the date on which the collective memory of all of them is celebrated. He was tortured in Dublin in 1584, under the reign of Elizabeth Idaughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Of the 17six were lay people, nine were religious, some of them bishops, and two were priests.
Blessed Thomas Whitbread and companions, five Jesuit priests, were martyred. EnglishThey were falsely accused of treason against King Charles II of England. They were executed in 1679.
Also in Japan
The Blessed Francisco PachecoThe nine martyrs of the Society of Jesus, three priests and the other professed brothers, catechists and Japanese collaborators, were burned alive in Nagasaki (Japan) in 1626 for hatred of the Christian faith. They were burned alive in Nagasaki (Japan) in 1626 for hatred of the Christian faith.
The Jesuit website notes that the governor tied the nine Jesuits to stakes, and within 15 minutes they were all dead. He forced the laity to witness their deaths, in the hope that fear would make them change. He was wrong. He sent them back to prison and they would be martyred a few days later.
