Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “The Japanese people are a noble people”, and their history is also marked by the “living testimony to the fidelity of so many Japanese Christians who passed on the precious treasure of the faith as a legacy from generation to generation”, said Pope Francis this morning in the Hall of Popes, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, where he received in audience the members of the "Hidden Christians Research Association", a Japanese association that deals with the protection of the hidden Christian sites of the Nagasaki region, which were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.
“I very much appreciate your efforts to preserve these sites as a precious witness to a great but hidden chapter in the history of the universal Church and in the history of your noble people,” the Pontiff emphasized, referring to what happened in Japan starting in 1600, when Christianity was banned and all missionaries were expelled.
Without priests and without churches, Japanese Catholics organized themselves: the village chief led the community, established the religious solemnities based on the liturgical calendar and preserved the sacred books; the catechist taught the children; those who knew the formulas for conferring baptisms administered the first sacrament; the herald visited families to announce Sundays, Christian feasts, days of fasting and abstinence.
“It is fitting,” added the Bishop of Rome, “that our meeting takes place on the eve of the Church’s celebration of the Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, the great missionary who dreamed that the preaching of the Gospel would bring forth a rich harvest of souls in your native land. As heirs to that dream, may your work of education and conservation make better known and appreciated this eminent chapter in the history of evangelization. May the visit to these historical sites serve for Christ’s followers in Japan today as “a living memory, an inspiration for the works of the apostolate and a spur to renewed evangelization” in your land.”
“When we think of the heroism of the early missionaries, the courage of the Japanese Martyrs and the perseverance of your country’s small but faithful Catholic community down the centuries, how can we not think of our fellow Christians who in our own day are enduring persecution and even death for the name of Jesus?”, added the Pontiff in his brief speech, concluding with an invitation to pray for all those Christians who today “suffer the bitter fruits of war, violence, hatred and oppression”. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/11/2024)
