Nagasaki,
Japan, is familiar to us as the city on which the second atomic bomb was
dropped, killing hundreds of thousands. Three
centuries before, 26 martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill, now known as the
Holy Mountain, overlooking Nagasaki. They
were crucified by order of the ruler Hideyoshi, on February 5, 1597.
Brother Paul Miki, a Jesuit and a native of Japan, has become best known
among those martyrs, but included in their number were priests, brothers and
laypersons, Franciscans, Jesuits and members of the Third Order of St. Francis;
there were catechists, doctors, simple artisans and servants, old men and young
children – all united in a common faith and love for Jesus Christ and his
Church.
hristianity
was first brought to Japan by the Basque Jesuit Francis Xavier, who stepped
ashore at Kagoshima in the year 1549 with two companions and a Japanese
interpreter. Within a few months of
his arrival, Xavier had fallen in love with the Japanese whom he called “the
joy of my heart… It seems to me that we shall never find another race to equal
the Japanese In spite of
the linguistic difficulties, he brought some hundreds to the Christian faith
before departing for China, the conversion of which seemed to him a necessary
prelude to that of Japan.
Thomas Kosaki
The youngest among the martyrs of Japan was Thomas Kosaki, 14. Here is the letter Thomas wrote to his mother before being crucified for his Christian faith:
"By the grace of Our Lord, I wanted to write this letter to you, dear Mother. According to the written sentence, all of us will be crucified along with the padres (priests) in Nagasaki. We are 26 in all. Please do not worry about Father and me, for we will be waiting for you in paradise. Should you fail to find a padre who could officiate the last rite for you, please remember contrition for your sins and keep the faith. Remember also the innumerable blessings bestowed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
As everything of this world can be lost soon, even if you might become poor and have to beg for food from people, please take care not to lose the glory of paradise. No matter what people may say to you, please forbear with patience and love to the end. It is important that my brothers Mancio and Felipe not fall into the hands of the pagans. I will pray fro them. Please pray for us all. Consider, I beg of you, one most important thing above all others. Immerse your heart always in contrition of sins. May God protect you."
Yet, by 1579, barely thirty years after Xavier’s arrival, there was already a flourishing community of some 150,000 Christians, whose sterling qualities and deep faith inspired in Francis Xavier’s successors the vision of a totally Christian island in the north of Asia. At the time the first persecution, in 1587, was unleashed in a fit of drunkenness and anger by Hideyoshi, there was a community of more than 200,000 converts increasing daily, so much that when in 1614 the edict of expulsion was promulgated it came at a time when there were about 300,000 Christians in Japan (whose total population was about 20 million), in addition to colleges, seminaries, hospitals and a growing local clergy. As a writer put it, “it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find another highly civilized pagan country where Christianity had made such a mark, not merely in numbers but in influence.” The persecution, initiated by Hideyoshi and pursued by his successors, became so systematically ruthless as to wipe out every visible vestige of Christianity.
Yet Christianity’s roots had gone too deep to be eradicated. Besides the martyrs (estimated at some 5-6,000 for the period of 1614-40 alone), thousands of underground-Christians kept their faith. Through secret organizations, the faith was handed down; baptism was administered by the elders, catechism was taught. They continued to pray and to await “someone to come from Rome,” they would recognize him if he brought with him a picture of Mariasama, Our Lady. In 1865, when Japan was reopened and missionaries returned, they at first found no trace of Christianity. Among them, was the Mexican Felipe de Jesus, the first martyr from the Americas to be beatified.
But soon they were to find out that thousands of Christians lived around Nagasaki. They came out of their hiding, asking for the statue of Santa Maria, speaking about Christmas and Lent, recalling the celibacy of the priests.
They are still there by the thousands, in Nagasaki, and the off shore islands, clinging tenaciously to a faith that centuries of ruthlessness could not stamp out. These are the progeny of those first martyrs of the Far East who beatified in 1627, were canonized in 1862 by Pope Pius IX. Their feast is celebrated on February 6th.
Today a new era has come for the Church in Japan. Although the number of Catholics is not large (428,000 in a population of 124 million, barely 0.4%), the Church is respected and has total freedom. The spread of Christianity in Japan, and in Asia as a whole, is slow and difficult, a reality the synod of the Bishops of Asia of 1998, grappled with and questioned for understanding. The Xaverian missionaries are present as witnesses to the Gospel in several Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. They present the gospel message keeping in mind the courage of St. Francis Xavier and under his protection.
In 1949 three missionaries expelled from China landed in Japan. Today, 50 years later, about 40 Xaverian Fathers and 13 Sisters work in the land of the Rising Sun, in some 30 centers, giving witness, proclaiming the good news, providing dialogue and charity, teaching in Universities, directing schools for children, assisting in dialogue with Buddhists (who constitute 87% of the population). Others are respected for their artistic talent and contributions. All is carried out in the name of the divine Master who instructed his disciples to be the salt, light, leaven for every human reality. Will the light of Christ succeed to give something to the land of the Rising Sun and to the Far East as a whole? The Asian Church, as well as the whole Church, as made clear at the recent Synod of Bishops of Asia, speaks today of the era of Asia. Faith such as that of the 26 martyrs is needed today as much as 1597.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)