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Full Version: Kakure Kirishitan of Japan

This article goes further into detail about the people in the video.
Here is more recent video about the Kakure.
I don't know why these two videos could not correct the grave inaccuracies they contained. The second one was a bit more accurate from the first, but both should have been clearer. These videos are not about kakure kirishitans, meaning those who went underground to protect and practice the Faith, but about hanare kirishitans. The hanare, as we see in the videos, really are more about syncretism and ancestry then about Catholicism. As the New World Encyclopedia notes:

Quote:It was later revealed that tens of thousands of Kirishitan still survived in some regions near Nagasaki. Some officially returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Others remained apart from the Catholic Church and became known as Hanare Kirishitan, retaining their own traditional beliefs and keeping their ancestors’ religion

It was truly miraculous that baptism and an imperfect expression of the Faith existed, without priests or basically any sacraments but marriage and baptism, for hundreds of years. But for some reason the authors of the videos don't note that these aren't "hidden Christians trying to keep the Faith alive," but those who refused to embrace a fully Catholic life once the Church was allowed back in during the late 19th century.

You can see the errors of the hanare, such as two BVM's, and the syncretism. Perhaps in times past, participation in Buddhist rituals simply for appearance's sake wouldn't be as culpable. But post late 1800s, completely unnecessary. Its more a maintenance of identity than of the Faith. In a way, it's kind of a novelty, which is why I think the author's sought out the hanare.

I liked seeing the hanare tea ritual. Contrast the way the man received the fish, bowing his head and eating reverently from his hand, with the second video in which those Catholics receive communio in manu.
The Christians in Japan have a fascinating history.

You all should read about the martyrs of Japan.
I knew I'd seen that hat somewhere before.

[Image: japan_cheesehead.JPG]

See the 2nd video 3:55

[Image: CheeseheadBishopDolan.jpg]
Mixing kakure kirishitans and epikeia ... could be what is happening in Malta. They are called ċelloli (cells).