Francis Xavier and the Jesuits converted 300k Japanese to the Catholic faith back in the 1590s. In 1614, Catholicism was banned. The Japanese went underground, calling themselves hidden Christians (隠れキリシタン), while others lost their lives.
The religion was popular among the samurai. One of them, Hasekura Tsunenaga, converted during his mission to Europe. The other one, Dom Justo Takayama, when challenged about his faith, said: "I would not give up my faith, and would rather give up my land and all that I own."
A painting of Mass in Japan.
In 1597, 26 Japanese Catholics were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki. One of them, St. Paul Miki, said: "I don't hate them. I ask God to have pity and I hope my blood falls on my fellow men as a fruitful rain. Like my Master, I shall die upon the cross."
A painting of a Dominican Japanese martyr.
Nagasaki is known as the Rome of Japan, as it has a significant number of practicing Catholics. The atomic bomb later dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima killed thousands of Catholics. Four priests stationed in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption were spared.
Photos of St. Maximilian Kolbe with Catholics of Japan.
During the persecution, the Catholics were without priests. The Japanese kept the rite of baptism and the liturgical years without European priests for nearly 250 years. Pope Pius XI called it a miracle.
When Pope St. John Paul II visited Nagasaki, he baptized the descendants of those who left Catholicism for Shinto religion during the time when there were no priests.
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