Preacher Who Died in Jail Made Saint by Pope Francis 8 Days After Leaving Hospital

Papua New Guinea is set to have its first saint.

On Monday, March 31, the Vatican confirmed in a press release that Pope Francis has approved the canonization (official admission) of the late catholic preacher Peter To Rot.

“The Church will soon have three new saints and a new blessed, as well as a new venerable, after Pope Francis authorized the publication of decrees related to several causes of canonization on Monday,” the release read. “The Pope cleared the path to canonization for Blessed Peter To Rot, a layman martyred for the faith in present-day Papua New Guinea (PNG).”

According to the release, Peter To Rot was born on March 5, 1912, and prepared couples for marriage during the Japanese occupation of Papua New Guinea during World War II.

As missionaries were being imprisoned at the time, Peter To Rot continued his work. "When his pastoral activity was forbidden, he carried out his apostolate in secret, fully aware that he was risking his life," the release added.

"He staunchly defended the sanctity of marriage and opposed the practice of polygamy, confronting even his older brother, who had taken a second wife,” the release continued. “Blessed Peter’s brother reported him to the police, and he was sentenced to two months in prison, where he died of poisoning in July 1945.”

Peter To Rot was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II on January 17, 1995, in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, beatify is to "announce formally in the Roman Catholic Church that someone who is dead has lived a holy life, usually as the first stage in making that person a saint."

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According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Tomas Ravaioli, an Argentinian missionary in Papua New Guinea, spent years trying to gather the required documents for Peter To Rot to be approved as a saint.

Ravaioli also spoke about the Pope's recent hospitalization with bronchitis and shared that the news of Peter To Rot's canonization as a surprise. The Pope was discharged from the hospital on March 23 after a 38-day stay.

"He left the hospital only a few days ago, this is why we were not expecting this," Ravaioli said. "We thought [the pope] had other priorities. Instead, after a few days, he signed the decree for the canonization of Blessed Peter To Rot. It was amazing for us … and honestly, unexpected."

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Francis has also approved the canonization of Blessed Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, born in 1869 in Turkey, as well as the first Venezuelan-born saint, Blessed Maria del Monte Carmelo, born in Caracas on August 11, 1903.

The Pope’s recent canonizations come after he approved the official admission for the late Carlo Acutis, 15, to become a saint last year.

Known as "God's influencer,” the video game and computer-loving teenager was born in London on May 3, 1991. He died from leukemia on Oct. 12, 2006, in Monza, Italy. Acutis, who was a web designer and documented Eucharistic miracles, will be the first millennial to be made a saint.