Pope Francis has given minor basilica status to the church of Oura in
Nagasaki, the place where “hidden Christians” kept the faith in Japan
alive for over two centuries, following the terrible persecution that
led to the martyrdom of many Catholics and the expulsion of all priests
at the end of the 16th century. The Vatican decree was issued at the end of April but the news only came to light in recent days when the Archdiocese of Nagasaki held a ceremony to mark the event. There are around 1,700 minor basilicas in the world; the one in Oura is the first one to be recognised in Japan, where Christian communities are miniscule: in some cases there are only around 10 faithful in a parish.
Oura is a landmark of the Catholic faith in Japan. The church in Nagasaki was the first to be built by French missionaries when they entered the country in 1864. The wooden sanctuary honours the martyrs who were crucified during the persecution of 1597. The temple was turned into a neo-Gothic church a year or so later. Just a few months after their arrival on 17 March 1865, the missionaries were greatly surprised to see a delegation representing a group of communities from the villages around Nagasaki, turn up at the church. The delegation, which was led by an obstetrician, wanted to know if they were the successors of the “bateren”, the “fathers” who had been driven out centuries before. They had secretly kept the Christian message - passed on to them by the first missionaries - alive for all that time.
This testimony, is a chapter of history that is very dear to Francis, who has often mentioned it as a model. “They survived through the grace of their Baptism,” the Pope had said, for example, at the General Audience of 15 January 2014. “This is big: the people of God pass on the faith, baptise His children and move forth. And despite doing so in secret, they kept a strong community spirit because Baptism had made them become one single body in Christ: they were isolated and hidden but they were still people of God, members of the Church.”
Now that the church of Oura has been named a minor basilica, it also becomes a place where Christians around the world can commemorate “hidden Christians”. “This church,” said the Archbishop of Nagasaki Mitsuaki Takami at the celebration ceremony to mark the occasion, “was the scene of an event that marked the transition from a time when our faith was banned to a time when it was free. Today, more than ever, it is called to play a central role in our future.”