The Roman Catholic Church held its first-ever beatification ceremony in Nagasaki, Japan, Monday for 188 martyrs.

The beatification ceremony came 27 years after then-Pope John Paul II told an archbishop in Nagasaki in 1981 that Japan's martyrs should be recognized, Kyodo reported.

The martyrs were killed between 1603 and 1639. Their beatification is an intermediate step before they can be named saints. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins presided over the beatification ceremony on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

Among those blessed Monday were Julian Nakaura, who was a member of a delegation sent to Rome to receive blessings from the pope, and Petro Kibe, who was the first Japanese to visit Jerusalem.

Forty-two people from Japan have reached sainthood, and 205 Catholics with ties to the country had been beatified previously.