Saint Peter ToRot: Papua New Guinea’s first saint

Pope Leo XIV has canonised Peter ToRot, a lay catechist executed in 1945 for defending Christian marriage during the Japanese occupation of Papua New Guinea, making him the country’s first saint and a powerful symbol of faith and witness in the Pacific.

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Pope Leo has canonised Blessed Peter To Rot, a lay catechist from Papua New Guinea who was executed in 1945 for defending Christian marriage during the Japanese occupation of his homeland.

The canonisation, celebrated before tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, makes To Rot the first saint from Papua New Guinea and a symbol of faith in the Pacific.

Born in Rakunai village on the island of East New Britain in 1912, Peter ToRot was the son of one of the first local converts to Catholicism. Trained by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, he served as a catechist and schoolteacher, instructing his community in the faith and preparing couples for marriage.

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