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The Silence

The Silence - by Shūsaku Endō

 

Prologue 

 

A report was brought to the Church of Rome.

 

It is said that Father Cristóvão Ferreira who was sent to Japan by the Portuguese Jesuits, was subjected to "hanging in a hole" torture in Nagasaki and vowed to renounce his faith.

 

This church father has lived in Japan for over 20 years and is an elder who holds the highest position of superior and leads both priests and laity.

 

He was blessed with rare theological talent and continued his missionary work from hiding in the Kamigata region(Kyoto,  Osaka, Kobe) even under persecution.

 

Also his letters were always filled with indomitable conviction.

 

It is hard to believe that this man would betray the Church under any circumstances.

 

Many in the Church and among the Jesuits believed the report to be a hoax or a false report created for the pagan Dutch and Japanese.

 

Of course, the Catholic Church of Rome was aware from the letters of the missionaries that missionary work in Japan was difficult.

 

In 1587, The lord of Japan, Hideyoshi changed his previous policy and began to persecute Christianity, 26 priests and believers were burned at Nishizaka in Nagasaki, and many Christians across the country were forced to flee their homes, tortured, and massacred.

 

The Tokugawa Shogunate followed this policy by expelling all Christian clergy overseas in 1614.

 

According to missionary reports, on October 6th and 7th of that year, over 70 priests including Japanese were gathered in Nagasaki Port and loaded onto five junk ships bound for Macau and Manila for their exile.

 

It was a rainy day.

 

The sea was gray and rough.

Their ships were soaking wet, disappeared over the horizon as it sailed from the inlet of the bay to the other side of the cape. 

 

However, despite the strict order of expulsion, 37 priests could not bear to abandon their faithful people and remained secretly in Japan.

 

Ferreira was one of these hidden priests, too.

 

He continued to send his superiors letters describing the priests and believers who were arrested and executed one after another.

 

A letter he sent from Nagasaki on March 22, 1632 to the Visitor Father André Barmeiro, which remains today, gives a detailed account of what happened at the time.

 

"I informed you of the state of the Christian churches here in my previous letter.

 

I'll continue to tell you what happened after that.

 

Everything is fully expressed to new persecutions, oppressions, and hardships.

 

Let us begin with the story of five friars who have been imprisoned since 1629 for their faith: three Augustinians, Bartolomé Gutierrez, Francisco de Jesus and Vicente de San Antonio, our own Brother Ishida Antonio, and the Franciscan Father Gabriel de Santa Madalena.

 

Uneme Takenaka who was Nagasaki Magistrate tried to make them renounce their faith, thereby mocking our holy teachings and our servants, and he was going to break their courage of faithful mind. 

 

However, Uneme soon realized that just words would not change the priests' minds.

 

So he decided to take another approach.

 

It was none other than torture them in the boiling waters of Unzen Hell.

 

• Unzen ―― https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Unzen

 

He ordered the five priests to be taken to Unzen and tortured with boiling water until they denied their faith, but not to be killed.

 

In addition to these five, Antonio da Silvia's wife Beatrice da Costa and her daughter Maria were also tortured, because they had long been urged to renounce their faith but had refused.

 

 

On December 3rd, everyone left for Unzen via Nagasaki.

 

The two sisters got into the palanquin and the five monks mounted their horses and said farewell to the people.

 

When they reached at the port of Himi of which it was only one legua away, their arms and hands were bound and their ankles were put in shackles, and then they were put on the ship.

 

They were tied tightly to the side of the boat one by one.

 

At dusk, they arrived at Obama Port, where was the foot of Mount Unzen.

 

They climbed the mountain next day.

 

On the mountain, the seven were each placed in a hut.

 

Day and night, they were shackled, handcuffed and surrounded by guards.

 

Although Uneme had many men under him, the deputy had also sent in police officers and vigilance was tight.

 

Guards were posted along all roads leading into the mountains and no one was allowed to pass through without a permit from an official.

 

The next day the torture began as follows.

 

- to be continued-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ This e-book is currently being prepared ~