Apology of Japan by Father Valentim de Carvalho: the conflict between the Jesuits and the Mendicant Orders in Japan

Abstract

This paper provides a contextualization of Christian missionary work in Japan in the 16th century and analyses the process that led to the tragic outcome of the history of Japanese Christianity in the 17th century. One of the main causes of the serious disagreements between missionaries of the mendicant orders and those of the Society of Jesus, who had pioneered Christian missionary work in the country of the Rising Sun, was the fact that the former did not agree with the latter’s acculturation methods. After the expulsion of the European missionaries in 1614 and the banning of Christianity from Japan, a manuscript by Father Valentim de Carvalho was discovered that provides an explanation for this outcome and makes an apology for the Jesuits’ methods of teaching the Gospel which was highly criticised by the mendicant orders, especially by the Franciscans. This paper makes an initial analysis of this manuscript, which carries an important historical memory.

Key words: Jesuits, missionary work, Japan, mendicant orders, acculturation.