![]() ![]() Why? I believe that a major difficulty in understanding the book is roughly equivalent to the major difficulty faced by the missionary Fr. We should, as Bishop Barron warns us, be careful not to overlook the heroism of the Japanese martyrs in the novel and in the movie. While it is true that Endo’s own Catholic faith was strained at different times in his life, he did come to love the Church more and more as life went on. In fact, I do not believe that the book is anti-Catholic at all, and in the end, I doubt such a thing can be said of the film. Reading the book to determine whether it is pro- or anti-Catholic is a disservice to the book, and probably to the movie as well. Endo’s book is a great work of art, and as such, it “resists a univocal or one-sided interpretation,” in Bishop Barron’s words. On the other hand, it’s also possible to remember that stalwarts like Bishop Barron have watched the film and/or read the book, and do not find it an insoluble challenge to the faith. If you do decide to see the film, it’s important to be aware that aspects of it may try your faith, and depending on where you’re at, you might change your mind and go to see something else. As I understand it, the movie is largely faithful to the book, and so to the first question, I would say that Catholics should feel no particular need to see the movie or read the book. I felt that I was missing something in it, that my own personal maturity and faith needed developing before I could fruitfully engage with Endo. I wanted some clever escape from this version of the Kobayashi Maru test.īut the novel stayed with me. I found the book quite disturbing because of the dilemma faced by the Portuguese missionaries, and the solution of external apostasy (perhaps at the command of Christ Himself?) was gravely disappointing to me. When I first read Endo’s Silence, I’m not sure that I was fully ready for it, even though I was thirty-three and a monk in solemn vows. A more ancient wisdom respects that different persons are in different places, and not all of us are prepared to grapple with particularly vexing or troubling ideas. Once we reach some arbitrary age, however, it is assumed that we can read or view more or less anything and derive profit from it. This is why we withhold certain types of stories and images from children. In beginning to answer the first question, I should note that I hold the somewhat unpopular point of view that not all literature and not all art is for everyone. In what follows, I will primarily focus on the questions that have been posed to me, with a few final words about the crucial issues of the novel. It’s also worth noting the effect of playing a Jesuit missionary had on actor Andrew Garfield. Now, there are many excellent reviews of the movie and of the book, and the two I’ve found most helpful are those of Bishop Robert Barron and Amy Welborn. As I attempt to answer them, my reason for considering them separately will hopefully be clear. I separate these two questions, even though it would seem that they are intimately connected. Should Catholics see this movie/read this book? Are the movie and book anti-Catholic? Two questions jump out as being pastorally weighty. I haven’t seen the movie, nor am I likely to soon (I wouldn’t mind seeing it at some point), but I am an enthusiast of the book. I’ve been asked to comment on Martin Scorsese’s most recent movie, Silence. It is easily forgotten just how deep an impact the Catholic faith made upon Japan in their first encounter. True, it comes with the trappings of faraway Rome, and yet what impresses me is that in the person of Paul Miki, it becomes Japanese. For him, Christianity is not a betrayal of his culture, but its goal, its fulfillment. Attention gradually focuses in on Saint Paul Miki, who begins his final apologia by proclaiming himself Japanese. We hear little of the brave European missionaries who brought the faith to Japan. It is of no small significance that the universal Church celebrates today the Japanese martyrs. –from the Acta Sanctorum, read at the Office of Vigils on the feast of St. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. “Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears…. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.’ I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. ![]() My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessings, and he ended his ‘sermon’ with these words…’I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. To his ‘congregation’ he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. “The crosses were set in place….Our brother, Paul Miki, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled.
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