Catholic Fortunes in Japan
Sandro Magister has a moving article this morning about the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and its impact on the Catholic community of Japan. I had not realized that
"among the victims of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, two thirds of the small but vibrant Japanese Catholic community disappeared in a single day. It was a community that was nearly wiped out twice in three centuries."
In 1945, this was done through an act of war that was mysteriously focused on this city. Three centuries before, it was by a terrible persecution very similar to that of the Roman empire against the first Christians, with Nagasaki and its "hill of martyrs" again the epicenter.
And yet, the Japanese Catholic community was able to recover from both of these tragedies. After the persecution in the seventeenth century, Christians kept their faith alive by passing it on from parents to children for two centuries, in the absence of bishops, priests, and sacraments. It is recounted that on Good Friday of 1865, ten thousand of these "kakure kirisitan," hidden Christians, streamed from the villages and presented themselves in Nagasaki to the stunned missionaries who had just recently regained access to Japan.
And again after the second slaughter in Nagasaki, in 1945, the Catholic Church was reborn in Japan. The most recent official data, from 2004, estimate that there are a little more than half a million Japanese Catholics. They are few in relation to a population of 126 million. But they are respected and influential, thanks in part to their solid network of schools and universities.
Moreover, if to the native Japanese are added the immigrants from other Asian countries, the number of Catholics doubles. A 2005 report from the commission for migrants of the bishops' conference calculates that the total number of Catholics recently passed one million, for the first time in the history of Japan.
posted by Sherry W @ 8:23 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Japan has always been something of a mystery to me...I hope to see all the churches growing there.
One factor is that cost of living is so high that it is very difficult to send missionaries there from places like the USA.
One could be a missionary in Mexico with a support base of $30,000 a year. But probably double or even triple that amount would be needed for Japan.
We have a 40 year old Japanese lady in our current RCIA programme. She explained she had no Christian formation except that as a child in learning English she used the Bible, but the crunch came later when publicity was given in her city to a Catholic woman who spent a huge amount of her time and her own modest income in ministering to homeless folk.
What was it St Francis of Assisi is alleged to have said. "Preach constantly: if necessary use words."
The novel "Silence" by Shusaku Endo is an excellent window onto the history of Japanese Catholic evangelising and as well there's a snippet in "A Man For All" about St Maximillian Kolbe who spent time founding a mission in Nagasaki.
If that's not enough just two days ago a good friend has dropped in two books for me to read, both by Paul Glynn, "A Song For Nagasaki" and "The Smile Of The Ragpicker". Time, time. I need a longer day - don't we all?
Regarding the comment from Abu daoud about the financial cost of evangelising in Japan: has it ever been any different anywhere in the history of Christianity? The call is to serve and the cost is known as sacrifice.
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