Reflections on Faith Brought About By 'Silence'

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I had dinner with Martin Scorsese June 21. It was no big deal – just him, me and maybe 500 other people, most of whom I had never met before, either.

The occasion was the Catholic Media Conference, at which Scorsese was presented a lifetime achievement award by the Catholic Press Association and by Signis, the international association of Catholic media professionals. Earlier in the day, those attending the conference had viewed Silence, the movie Scorsese directed and co-wrote, based on the novel by Shūsaku Endō, which tells the tale of two 17th-century Portuguese Jesuits who travel to Japan, where they witness the persecution of Christians.

Following the screening, Scorsese answered questions posed by author Paul Elie. (You can read coverage of that event at https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/06/22/scorsese-why-he-made-silence-get-know-jesus-better.)

Watching the movie in a room filled with other journalists – who as a breed tend to be detached and skeptical observers – was an interesting experience. Throughout the almost three-hour movie, there were no whispers, no checking of cell phones, no discernible fidgeting. Afterward, as the credits rolled, no one began to talk. I can’t speak for the others, but my silence was due to the emotional impact the movie had on me.

SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to reveal details of the movie’s plot, so stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happens.

The movie’s main character is Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield), who is prepared – and obviously intending – to be a martyr for the faith. However, when he is captured by the Japanese officials, they give him no chance to die. Instead, in an attempt to get Rodrigues to renounce his faith, the Japanese officials force him to watch as other Christians are killed in horrific ways. These men and women have already apostatized, he is told; they are dying not because of their faith but because he himself is refusing to apostatize.

My initial reaction to the movie was that Fr. Rodrigues should have clung to his faith to the bitter end. Upon later reflection, I thought just how terrible was the conundrum he faced: He had to choose to either refuse to denounce the faith to which he had devoted his life, or watch dozens of people die gruesome deaths.

This brings to mind Jn 15:13 – “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Fr. Rodrigues was more than willing to show just how great was his love for his friend Jesus, but rather than being allowed to lay down his life he was asked to lay down his faith, which was his most prized possession.

Having reached that conclusion, the inevitable question arose: What is my most prized possession, and would I sacrifice it if it meant others would live?

 At the end of the conference, I chatted with another journalist about the movie. He said his initial reaction, when he heard the conference was devoting three hours for a film he had already seen, was that there were more profitable ways to spend the time. However, after watching it with his peers and hearing Scorsese discuss it, he saw the value of it, he said.

Although the movie had the most impact of all the events I attended at the conference, it wasn’t the most important. I learned many things from the workshops I attended, many of which I hope will find their way into the various media offerings from Intermountain Catholic. I am excited about some changes I hope to make to our ministry here, which I plan to get underway this summer and be fully implemented by the end of the year. I’ll let you know more as we begin to put them into practice, and I look forward to hearing from you about the improvements.

Marie Mischel is editor of the Intermountain Catholic, the newspaper for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.