Many years ago, I learned German and was eventually able to work in Germany over summer break. For the last 10 years I have spent 1-2 months working in Essen, Germany and except the first couple of years, when I was still struggling with properly understanding the language, there hasn’t been one year when I haven’t heard of a sexual scandal involving priests of the Catholic Church. I am not Catholic, but in Germany, I worked for a foster home and retirement home complex owned by a pro-catholic organization, where these cases were heavily debated by the employees. I have heard many stories as I worked there, on TV, or told by my co-workers but I cannot testify to their authenticity. The story that I want to talk about is one told to me by a retired Catholic priest that would occasionally drop by for dinner and a chat. During our rare but lengthy conversations, we debated the problem of sexual abuse within the church and what he told me was shocking at the time. I come from an Orthodox…
The Persecution of the Kirishitan (Christian) Faith in Japan In Japan, for 250 years, there were people who hid their Christian faith for more than seven, eight, or nine generations, without being noticed even by their neighbors or the local government.Those who used to be called as Kakure (Hidden) Kirishitan (Christian in old Japanese), are now called Senpuku Kirishitan (潜伏キリシタン), Underground Christian. I first heard the name during a junior high history class about 30 years ago. At that time, I did not have any impression on them and only acknowledged their past existence. However, as the time passed, I found that the story of these underground Christian is not about the past but rather a dynamic drama that continues to live even now. There is a statement that shakes the thought lurking under unconsciousness: “Priests from Portuguese and Spain continue to preach against the government order, speaking ill of Shinto, blaming Buddhism, and lacking righteousness and goodness. Kirishitans…
Strict controls of religion in England and Japan, and the Freedom of religion the US constitution guarantees The histories of both England and Japan tell us that their national securities and independence had conflicted with the religious freedom of their people. The history of US tells us that deciding and acting political issues independently from organized Church or religious institutions is essential to protect the religious freedom.
Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gain Political Independence from Religious Authority in England As a Japanese living in the US, I view that the development of congressional politics in England as the political elites gradually limited the royal and religious authorities and gained own economic and political freedom while sacrificing the religious freedom and many lives of Catholics in their kingdom. Let me explain in details. In medieval Europe, Pope claimed the Papal supremacy and exercised…
Score: 1.13
Privacy settings changed!
Article is saved. Do you want to continue editing the article or leave and edit later?
