Pope Francis has recently approved the canonisation of Papua New Guinean Catholic preacher Peter To Rot, who was held in a Japanese prison in Papua New Guinea (PNG) during World War II over his religious activities, which ended with him being given a lethal injection in 1945, leading to his death at the age of 33.
To Rot’s beatification was celebrated in PNG in 1995. According to various media reports, an Argentinian missionary to PNG, Tomas Ravaioli, spent years collecting the documentation required for To Rot to be recognised as a saint.
In 2012, the PNG government issued a series of postage stamps commemorating the centennial of To Rot’s birth. – GNM
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