ASIA/JAPAN – A journey in the footsteps of the “hidden Christians”
Archdiocese of Nagasaki
Nagasaki (Agenzia Fides) – “The Way of the Gospel” is the name of the new pilgrimage route to be established in southern Japan, in the places where the first missionaries worked and where the extraordinary experience of the “hidden Christians” developed. This “spiritual path” project – like many others around the world, beginning with the well-known Camino de Santiago in Spain – was conceived as part of the cultural activities of the “Thesaurum Fidei” initiative in the Archdiocese of Lucca. It is being carried out in collaboration with the Perugian confraternity of Santiago de Compostela and the Japanese prefectures of Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Nagasaki, with the relevant municipalities, and in close contact with the Japanese dioceses of Kagoshima, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka. The idea originated during a trip to Japan by a delegation from the Diocese of Lucca in September 2025 and was welcomed by local civil authorities, particularly those of Kumamoto and Nagasaki, the mayor of Amakusa, and various public and private Japanese institutions.
During these meetings, the general route of the pilgrimage was established: a Christian pilgrimage route between Kagoshima and Nagasaki that touches upon the sites of early Christian missionaries such as Francis Xavier, Luis de Almeida, and Alessandro Valignano, aiming to rediscover and enhance the spirituality and cultural and scenic beauty of a heritage invaluable to the history of the Church.
This heritage has already received international recognition: in 2018, UNESCO approved the inclusion of the “hidden Christian sites” in the prefectures of Nagasaki and Kumamoto on the World Heritage List. This important recognition has enabled the launch of numerous cultural initiatives both in Japan and abroad.
Pope Francis also had the opportunity to visit some of these sites in Nagasaki during his trip to Japan in November 2019, and in November 2024 he received members of the Hidden Christians Research Association in Rome. Both encounters honored the witness of the deep faith and perseverance of the Japanese Christian community, which, following the persecution of Christian missionaries since the end of the 16th century, preserved an important spiritual treasure for almost three centuries.
The day after the diocesan journey to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Dominican missionary Angelo Orsucci from Lucca (1622-2022), which highlighted the immense value of Christian history in the Kyushu region, the “Thesaurum Fidei” project was launched. Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Lucca, the project aims to honor the cultural and spiritual heritage of Christianity through research, historical remembrance, and intercultural dialogue.
The project included conferences, exhibitions, and publications that helped create further opportunities to develop ideas for honoring the precious experience of those believers who kept Christ in their hearts when Christianity was banned and all missionaries were expelled, and to share it with the worldwide Catholic community as a testimony of faith.
The ancient story was also retold in the special format of manga comics, thanks to the illustrations of manga artist Kan Takahama. She recently visited the 2025 edition of “Lucca Comics & Games” with a Japanese delegation, where she presented her work, which aims to tell today’s boys and girls the extraordinary story that took place in Japan starting in 1600. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 8/11/2025)
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