Ten years, a long history, and an initiative that bridges memory and the future. This is the project launched by the Prefecture of Nagasaki, Japan, which has sent a delegation to meet representatives of the Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago. The aim is to develop a pilgrimage route inspired by the European models, to be inaugurated in 2028 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the UNESCO …

World Heritage inscription of the "Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region and Amakusa."

To prepare for this event, two officials from the Nagasaki Prefecture have visited Rome and the Vatican and will also travel to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Santiago de Compostela. Through these meetings, the Japanese delegation intends to study the management practices, hospitality, and organizational expertise associated with UNESCO-recognized pilgrimage routes.

A small community, a past marked by faith, fear, and resilience under the sign of hope. This, in essence, is the story of Japan's Hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan). The 2028 pilgrimage will commemorate their history and bring renewed attention to their remarkable witness of perseverance.

Christianity was introduced to Japan in the sixteenth century by St. Francis Xavier. It spread rapidly, particularly in the Nagasaki region. Then, beginning in the early seventeenth century, Christianity was outlawed. For more than 250 years, tens of thousands of believers continued to practice their faith in secret. They became known as the Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians"), passing down prayers, rituals, and traditions from one generation to the next until Japan reopened to the outside world in the nineteenth century.

In 1865, a historic event took place at Ōura Cathedral. A group of villagers quietly revealed to the French missionary Father Bernard Petitjean that they had preserved their Christian faith in secret for more than two centuries. This "discovery of the Hidden Christians" remains one of the most moving episodes in the history of Christianity.

Today, many European pilgrims are familiar with—or have walked—the Japanese pilgrimage of the 88 Temples of Shikoku. Along this Buddhist pilgrimage stands the 53rd temple, Enmyō-ji, where a small statue known as Kannon/Mary can be found. It is a striking testimony to the faith of the Hidden Christians, who, to escape persecution, honored and prayed to the Virgin Mary through a statue bearing the likeness of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of the most beloved and revered figures in Japanese Buddhism.

The connection between Kannon and the Virgin Mary is not doctrinal but historical, symbolic, and, in some cases, profoundly meaningful. Both are perceived as figures of compassion, mercy, and protection. Their gentle and maternal appearance allowed these images to be mistaken for Buddhist icons, while they were in fact venerated as representations of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This historical bond comes to life once again today through the initiative of the Nagasaki Prefecture and its project to establish a pilgrimage route tracing the footsteps of Japan's Hidden Christians.

(Felice d'Adamo)