Indonesia: Amboina Diocese Opens Beatification Cause of Bishop Aerts and Kei Martyrs

Bishop Seno Ngutra of the Diocese of Amboina, in Indonesia’s Maluku Province, has officially promulgated the opening phase of the beatification process for Mgr. Arnoldus Johannes Hubertus Aerts, MSC, together with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), who were martyred in Langgur on Kei Kecil Island. The announcement was made during the celebration of the Eucharist at the Kei Martyrs Pilgrimage Park on December 30, 2025.

Mgr. Aerts and 12 members of the MSC Congregation were executed by Japanese troops on July 30,1942 because of their fidelity to the Christian faith and to the Church’s missionary mandate.

Killed for fidelity to faith and to the people

The tragic events took place shortly after Japanese forces landed in Langgur–Tual on Kei Kecil Island during World War II. European missionaries were targeted as they were politically regarded as coming from countries considered “enemies” of Japan. Among the MSC missionaries, one priest of German origin survived, as Germany was then an ally of Japan.

Fr. Yong Ohoitimur, MSC, recalled that the Kei martyrs consciously chose to remain with their people, even though they had the opportunity to save themselves.

“They actually had the chance to flee to Australia, as did officials of the Dutch colonial government. But out of fidelity to their mission, they chose to stay and accompany the faithful,” Fr. Ohoitimur said.

He urged Catholics to remember these martyrs with gratitude for their witness of faith and steadfastness in carrying out their mission, even at the cost of their lives. The Church’s ancient expression, Sanguis martyrum semen Christianorum, the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians, was once again affirmed.

Mgr. Aerts, first bishop of Amboina

Mgr. Arnoldus Johannes Hubertus Aerts, MSC, was born in Swoglen, the Netherlands, on February 3, 1880. He was ordained a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on August 6, 1905. Initially prepared for mission work in Surigao, the Philippines, he was later sent to the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

On July 12, 1920, Pope Benedict XV appointed him Titular Bishop of Apollonia, and on August 28, 1920, he was named Apostolic Vicar of Nova Guinea Olandese, a Dutch mission territory that later developed into the Diocese of Amboina on January 3, 1961. Since 1902, this territory had been entrusted to the MSC Congregation, succeeding the Jesuit missionaries.

Mgr. Aerts served in Maluku and Papua from 1921 onward. At the age of 62, after 37 years of religious life as an MSC priest and 22 years as a bishop, he was executed by Japanese troops on the shore of Langgur Beach on July 30, 1942.

A sacred land of martyrs

In his homily, Bishop Ngutra invited the faithful to recognize the land of Langgur as sacred ground, consecrated by the blood of the martyrs.

“Are you aware that you are standing on holy ground? Jesus Christ came into the world not first of all to live, but to die. And his death is the supreme sacrifice of love,” the bishop said.

He stressed that the Kei martyrs, like Christ, chose to become grains of wheat that fall to the ground and die, so that the faith of the people, still fragile at that time, might grow and bear fruit.

“They did not stay to seek fame or honour. They stayed because of their great love for this land and for the people entrusted to them,” he said.

According to Bishop Ngutra, Christian faith flourished from the blood of these martyrs not only in Kei but also in Ambon, North Maluku, and even Papua. “Therefore, it is most fitting that we call them martyrs. The sacrifice of their lives is the clearest proof of fidelity to God and to the faith,” he emphasized.

The beginning of a journey of faith

Bishop Ngutra noted that whether these men will eventually be declared saints depends entirely on the will of God. “If God wills it, the way will be opened and every obstacle will be removed. Our task is to pray,” he said.

He encouraged the faithful to make the Kei Martyrs Pilgrimage Complex a true house of prayer, a place of encounter with God, and stressed that the responsibility to preserve its sacredness rests with all the faithful, especially the people of Langgur.

The Eucharistic celebration thus marked the official beginning of the beatification process for the Kei martyrs, with the conviction that, just as Christ and the martyrs offered their lives, the Church now offers its prayers so that God’s will may be revealed through this sacred journey.