Papua New Guinea has its first-ever Catholic saint, after local martyr Peter ToRot was canonised by Pope Leo XIV in a landmark ceremony in St Peter’s Square on Monday, the Vatican has announced.

Canonised alongside six others before a crowd of around 55,000, ToRot sldo becomes the first saint in Melanesia. He was a lay catechist from East New Britain who was killed in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of PNG for standing up for monogamous marriage and refusing to renounce his faith.

His canonisation marks the culmination of a decades-long campaign by PNG Catholics and follows a final approval by Pope Francis earlier this year before his death.

ToRot was born in 1912 in Rakunai village and trained as a Catholic catechist under German missionaries. During World War II, when Japanese forces imprisoned foreign priests, he continued to lead his local mission and openly opposed polygamy, which had been re-legalised by the occupying administration.

In 1945, ToRot was arrested and later died in prison after being given a fatal injection. Witnesses and historical accounts suggest he was targeted for defying the Japanese authorities and upholding Christian marriage teachings.

“He is so special,” Anis Dubai, one of many PNG Catholics who travelled to Rome to witness the canonisation, told ABC Australia. “None of us here can be like him.”

Judith Funmat, also in attendance, told the network that she had followed ToRot’s story since childhood. “Now that he has become a saint, I am so happy to be here. I had only heard his story, but now I am here in his village, seeing where he carried out his work.”

There are between 1.27 billion and 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, with official figures from the Vatican's 2025 Pontifical Yearbook showing 1.406 billion baptised Catholics as of 2023.

In PNG, there are two million Catholics, which constitutes about 26 to 27 per cent of the country's total population. This makes the Roman Catholic Church the largest Christian grouping in the Pacific island nation.

Pope Francis is welcomed to the Governor-General's House in Port Moresby during his visit in September 2024. Photo/Vatican Media

National pride and legacy in the Pacific

Carola Namiau, who was baptised by ToRot, told journalists that she still feels his presence in her life. “I know he is here and strengthens me. I am thankful to him for his guidance.”

The ceremony has been met with jubilation across PNG, where Catholicism remains a major religion. Bishop Rosario Menesez from the Lae Diocese told RNZ Pacific the canonisation “boosted the morale and faith of not only Catholics, but all Christians in the country".

ToRot was beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II during a papal visit to PNG. Since then, calls for his sainthood have grown, with many citing his example of courage and moral conviction in the face of colonial power.

“This is not just a religious milestone, it’s a powerful affirmation of Pacific identity and resilience,” Giorgio Licini, a senior Catholic figure in Port Moresby, says.

ToRot’s canonisation is also significant for the wider Pacific, where Christianity, especially Catholicism, remains a dominant spiritual and cultural force.

As Odilia Kova put it from Rome: “I will take back the blessing to my family and my archdiocese.”

ToRot joins several other Catholics who have been canonised in the Pacific: Peter Chanel, a Marist priest in Wallis and Futuna, 1954, Fr Damien, a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Hawai'i, 2009, Mary MacKillop, founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Australia, 2010, Pedro Calungsod, a layman in Guam, 2012, and Marianne Cope, a Franciscan sister in Hawai'i, 2012.