Heartbreaking Farce

tinned to practice Christianity in secret. Their faith, handed down through seven or eight generations, was still alive when the missionaries returned in 1865. This clandestine worship was usually limited to families or very small groups, but there was also an organized sect, followers of a martyred catechist named Bastian, who are said to have numbered thirty thousand.

Although Mr. Williams does not estimate the number of Japanese who are now Christians, he implies that the Church commands greater respect and devotion than at any time since the days of the martyrs. This assurance will be gratifying to Catholics and (I hope) all Christians, but their satisfaction should be tempered by a careful analysis of the policy that the United States has consistently pursued in the Orient since 1945. The best estimate that I can make is that Japan will be added to the Communist Empire in 1960 or 1961. One wonders whether Christianity will again survive underground.

RB

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Roger Becket

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tinned to practice Christianity in secret. Their faith, handed down through seven or eight generations, was still alive when the missionaries returned in 1865. This clandestine worship was usually limited to families or very small groups, but there was also an organized sect, followers of a martyred catechist named Bastian, who are said to have numbered thirty thousand.

Although Mr. Williams does not estimate the number of Japanese who are now Christians, he implies that the Church commands greater respect and devotion than at any time since the days of the martyrs. This assurance will be gratifying to Catholics and (I hope) all Christians, but their satisfaction should be tempered by a careful analysis of the policy that the United States has consistently pursued in the Orient since 1945. The best estimate that I can make is that Japan will be added to the Communist Empire in 1960 or 1961. One wonders whether Christianity will again survive underground.