On Tuesday Feb 7th 2017, the Catholic Church beatified Takayama Ukon, a Japanese Christian samurai and feudal lord who died in exile about 400 years ago after refusing to renounce his faith.
According to Wikipedia, Ukon was expelled from Japan after the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler of the time, prohibited the Christian faith. Udon fled to Manila on Dec 11 “and was greeted warmly by the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos there.”
Takayama Ukon died 40 days later.
Read more on the beatification here: http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/07/17/catholic-church-beatifies-japanese-samurai
