Delegation of the Archdiocese of Lucca in Japan in the footsteps of Blessed Angelo Orsucci

A delegation from the Archdiocese of Lucca, chaired by Archbishop Monsignor Paolo Giulietti, will travel to Japan from Monday (4 September) to 11 September.

The opportunity is given by 400th anniversary of the martyrdomwhich took place near Nagasaki, by the Dominican missionary from Lucca Blessed Angelo Orsucci (1573-1622). And precisely by the archbishop of Nagasaki, Monsignor Peter Michiaki Nakamura, the delegation from Lucca will be welcomed, hosted and accompanied to learn about the history of Blessed Orsucci and the many Christian martyrs of that area.

Christians in Japan are still a minority today. The population is mostly Shinto and Buddhist. It was the Jesuit Francesco Xavier who introduced Christianity to the country in 1549. After an initial period of coexistence, the local authorities and the emperor saw in the new religion a danger for the country and began a ferocious persecution with exiles and killings, both of priests missionaries and Japanese converts. The Christians who managed to remain in Japan handed down the faith in families, with small communities, but they lived in secret: it is the phenomenon of Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians) who, without priests, cultivated faith in the Gospel of Jesus for 250 years. Rai recently aired the film Silencewhich tells their epic, and is still visible on Raiplay.

The phenomenon emerged from hiding only in the second half of the 1800s, when Japan began to open up and also tolerate the presence of other religions. Even if the Christians, at least until the Second World War, in the land of the Rising Sun remained unpopular and controlled.

Among the missionaries who brought the Gospel to Japan there is therefore also a Lucchese, born in Palazzo Orsucci, in the historic center; on the facade in via Guinigi there is a plaque commemorating his birth. On 10 September 1622, Angelo Orsucci, he was burned alive near Nagasaki along with other priests and lay people, including women, the elderly and children. 400 years after his martyrdom, the church of Lucca wants to remember the missionary testimony of this Lucca.

In the twentieth century, two other Lucchese, in Japan, were missionaries. It is about Fedele Giannini (Castelnuovo di Garfagnana 1927 – Nirasaki 2002) e Allegrino Allegrini (Brancoli 1926– Saga 2006) both missionaries of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. The program of the trip – which will also be reported on the social networks of the diocese – is therefore aimed not only at the rediscovery of the figure of Orsucci, visiting the places of his imprisonment and martyrdom and to learn about the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of the Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians), of which many material expressions have been declared a World Heritage Site since 2018. The trip will also be an opportunity for interreligious dialogue and peace. The delegation will visit the Nagasaki atomic bomb museumwhere he will pause in prayer. He will meet the Buddhist monk Ide di Sainenji. He will visit various ecclesial realities that live as a minority in a complex context. The occasion will also strengthen the Puccini bond of Lucca with Nagasaki where, as is well known, the Madama Butterfly: local authorities will offer the work for the delegation.

“Remembering the martyrs means renewing the awareness that the proclamation of the Gospel always encounters resistance, even today; in many countries we can speak of real persecution – declares Monsignor Giulietti – Recently the CEI has expressed its support for the church of Nicaragua, where the regime has closed the Catholic broadcasters and has arrested priests, seminarians and even a bishop, Monsignor Álvarez Lagos. A more missionary church must accept the risk of paying the price for its own evangelical witness and to be on the side of the poor and the weak ”.

The delegation will also include the University of Pavia, with Professor Olimpia Niglio (engineering faculty) who in addition to having taught in Japan has worked, for over four years, in the Japanese research group for the development of the enhancement of the cultural heritage of hidden Christianity in order to include these assets in the list of Unesco sites. The Lucca delegation, in addition to the archbishop, foresees the presence of don Daniele Ricci director of the diocesan pilgrimage office, e Lorenzo Maffei journalist (Tuscany Today). Next year a delegation from the archdiocese of Nagasaki will be welcomed in Lucca.

In Lucca, on 10 September, the date of the anniversary of the martyrdom, a commemoration of Blessed Angelo Orsucci will be held in the morning at 10 under the plaque placed on the facade of Palazzo Orsucci in the presence of the mayor of Lucca. In the afternoon – in the Hall of the archbishopric at 5pm – there will be the presentation of the biography on Blessed Angelo Orsucci, commissioned by the Lions club Lucca Le Mura, written by Giovanni Macchia and edited by Maria Pacini Fazzi.

Brief biographical note of Blessed Angelo Orsucci

Born in Lucca on May 8, 1573, he entered the Dominican convent of San Romano at a very young age. Then after studying in Rome, he dedicated himself to the mission passing first from Spain from where he embarked for the Americas, landing in Mexico in 1601. Crossing that country on foot, he left Acapulco for the Philippines with another ship. He remained for several years in Manila and its surroundings, showing in poverty and in missionary inspiration, great spiritual and human skills, as well as a great ease in learning the language of the local population. After a brief return to Mexico, he returned to the Philippines where in 1618 he realized the desire to go and bring the Gospel to Japan: aware of putting his life at risk, because the persecutions and killings had already begun. He lived for five months as a guest of a Japanese family converted to Christianity, then he was captured and imprisoned for 4 years until the day of his martyrdom. During his missionary experiences, he also wrote various letters to family members in Lucca and, surprisingly, he too wrote from captivity, probably with the help of some complacent guardian. From his written testimony springs the desire to give his life for Jesus, in one of these letters he wrote: “I am very happy for the favor that Our Lord has done me and I would not exchange this prison with the major palaces and cardinals of Rome”.

Delegation of the Archdiocese of Lucca in Japan in the footsteps of Blessed Angelo Orsucci – Luccaindiretta