July 7th. PNG pride in its saint, Peter ToRot.
The Catholic Bishops Conference PNGSI officially ended their 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) with a thanksgiving Holy Eucharist at the CBC head office in Port Moresby on Thursday, 02 July 2020 at 5.00 pm. The celebrations incorporated the laity theme of upholding holiness, formed and sent for service. The Eucharist was also marked the life and example of Blessed Peter ToRot on 6th Martyr’s 25 years of his Beatification and 75 years anniversary of his Martyrdom.
Archbishop Rochus Tatamai, MSC, a close family descendent of Bl. Peter ToRot gave a moving homily highlighting the life, witness, and example of Bl. ToRot as a man of courage and fortitude in faith and resolve to follow Jesus Christ by his life and death. ToRot was a family man, catechist, teacher, and eventually died a martyr in defense of his Christian faith. Tatamai recollected the life of Bl. ToRot from the time his parents became the first-generation Christians when the missionaries landed on Matupit in 1882. ToRot was a second-generation Christian following in the footsteps of his parents.
ToRot was trained and formed as a catechist. He learned and worked hard work with discipline and obedience to become a good teacher and a catechist. He would usually work beyond his call of duty. When he married he lived a very good married and family life following the Gospel teaching. He defended the values of marriage and resisted his traditional culture of polygamy and the laws of the Japanese Imperial Army, and gladly died standing for his faith. ToRot left behind many great examples of obedience, family life, teacher, catechist, prayer, respect, and faith. ToRot stood for his faith and died of his faith even when some family members betrayed him. The laity in particular is challenged to continue with the life and work of ToRot especially in today’s challenging and uncertain times.
ToRot grew out of a time of lock down in World War 2 with restrictions on church activities but he persisted with his pastoral work of teaching and catechesis to bring souls to Christ. The lockdown anxieties of CoVid-19 can give us a taste of such experience of being persistent and to keep growing in our faith. ToRot is not a stranger to us. He is one of us – a father, husband, teacher, example and witness.
This famous portrait of Blessed Peter ToRot was painted by a talented Korean natural Artist in Naju, Gwangju City South Korea. He is talented because to paint the colour of the Melanesian body skin he improvised so he took a photograph of my bare arm so he could get the correct or near perfect skin-colour for the portrait. He also tried his best to capture the background of Rabaul and the unique tropical volcanic panoramic natural landscape with the backdrop of the Rabaul scenic Simpson harbour.
To add further significance to this portrait was that it was specially blessed and commissioned by His Eminence Petro Cardinal Parolin -Secretary of Vatican State during his pastoral visit for the Federation of the Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) in 2018 in Port Moresby. This portrait was especially entrusted to the Catholic Laity for the promotion of popular piety amongst the Catholic and even all Christian faithful. Thanks to my Korean friends who made arrangements for the Korean Artist to paint the portrait of Blessed Peter ToRot free of charge and request our sincere prayers for his family's intentions.
