THE ARCHDIOCESE of Nagasaki has tapped Santisimo Rosario Parish Priest Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P. as consultant for a book celebrating the quincentennial of Christianity in Japan.
The book, titled “500-Year History of Christianity in the Philippines and Nagasaki, Japan,” will feature the lives of Thomasian martyrs and the discovery of thousands of hidden Japanese Christians 150 years ago.
“I am much honored kasi makakatulong ako sa prefecture ng Japan to promote religious tourism,” Coronel said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
The book will be released by the end of 2016.
Coronel, who visited Japan in 2014, noted that Christianity there remained intact despite a small following.
“Matatanda na `yung mga mananampalataya pero very devout pa rin. [I]n a way, naging ‘jumping board’ ang Pilipinas. Nagsimula muna dito `yung religion bago nakarating sa Japan,” he said.
UST officials are now studying a possible partnership between the University and the Archdiocese of Nagasaki, Coronel said.
Coronel is the editor of Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas, the interdiocesan bulletin published by the University and associate editor of Philippiniana Sacra, the official publication of the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties. He also heads the UST Social Media Bureau.
