Born in the Gotō Islands
Juan de Gotō was born in 1578 on the Gotō Islands to Christian parents, who may have been among the first converts there.His family name was Soan, but he was always called "de Gotō" after his island home.He was baptized at birth, in the time of the Christian lord of Gotō known in the sources as Louis I.When that lord's brother seized power from the young heir, Christians fled to Kyushu, and the boy's parents were among them.The family went into exile for the faith and settled in Nagasaki, then almost entirely Christian.
A catechist of the Jesuits
Juan grew up in Nagasaki near the Jesuit residence and church.He studied with the Jesuits there and then at their school at Shiki on Amakusa, which trained catechists who also helped the missionaries as painters or musicians.At little more than fifteen he asked the vice-provincial to admit him to the Society of Jesus, and he was enrolled among the catechists, the first step toward religious life.
As companion of Fr Pedro Morejón, the young catechist spent a long time on Shiki teaching children the faith.He was then sent to Osaka to serve the same priest as catechist.At the Jesuit house in Osaka he lived with Fr Organtino, Paul Miki and Diego Kisai.He was a dōjuku of the Jesuit fathers, a catechist and altar server rather than a lay brother.Shortly before his death he was confirmed at Osaka by Bishop Pedro Martins, together with many others.
Choosing to stay
On December 9, 1596, Juan was one of three men held in the Jesuit house at Osaka when the persecution began.He could have escaped, but he stayed to put the sacristy in order and to save the things in his charge.He refused to leave even when guards were set on the house.
His name was on the list of prisoners, and he feared that men of higher rank would take his place on a cross.He wrote to Fr Morejón asking leave to defend his place, but the priest refused.The catechist went to the governor of Osaka all the same and insisted that his name must not be struck off.
Vows on the road
Near Nagasaki the Jesuit João Rodrigues promised Juan and Diego Kisai, in the vice-provincial's name, that they would soon be allowed to take religious vows.In his last hours the young man was received into the Society of Jesus and made his vows.These are described as vows of devotion.
Farewell at the cross
Juan de Gotō was crucified at Nagasaki on February 5, 1597, at the age of nineteen.Before the execution his father came to say goodbye, and neither of them shed a tear.The son urged his father to put eternal salvation before everything.The father answered: "My child, be firm and bear death with joy, since you suffer it for our holy faith" (translated).He added that Juan's mother and he were ready to die for the same cause.
The son gave his father his rosary, and gave his mother the cloth he had tied around his head.He asked his father to visit Fr Morejón, whom he had served so long and whose example had made him firm.
On the cross
On the cross Juan de Gotō encouraged the martyr next to him.When a priest reminded him of heaven, he answered: "Yes, yes, be consoled, for that is the dearest thought of my heart".
His father stood at the foot of the cross and watched the two lances pass through his son.When the young martyr died, the old man forced his way through the guards, kissed the cross, and tore off pieces of his son's clothes to carry home to the boy's mother.He left stained with his son's blood, blessing God for giving his family a martyr.
In 1627 the Congregation of Rites allowed an office for him, with Paul Miki and Diego Kisai, on February 5.He was later canonized.
What is uncertain
Where the sources disagree
- When and where he took his vows. Hesselink says Fr Francesco Pasio received him into the Society at Sonogi on February 4, 1597, the eve of his death, while Yuki says he took his first vows that very morning at the lepers' hospital of Urakami.Ribadeneira says only that a priest received his vows on the road.
- His standing in the Society. Profillet calls his vows "vows of devotion", and Boero insists he ranked as a catechist (dōjuku), not a lay brother.Omata Rappo (2020) gives a whole section to whether Gotō, Kisai and Miki should be counted as Jesuits.
- Why he was arrested. Hesselink describes him as one of three men linked to the Jesuit mission who were arrested by mistake.
- How he reached the governor. Bartoli says he bribed his guards to go to the governor, Boero says he went with his jailers' leave.
- Birth year. Charlevoix prints 1518, an obvious slip for 1578.
- Another "Gotō Juan". Bartoli and Cieslik write of a Gotō Juan who protected Jesuits in northern Japan in later years; this appears to be a different man, and those facts are not used here.