Religio

Martyrial Memory and Institutional Legitimacy: Francisco Fernández de Capillas in the Narratives of Fernando Calva and Joaquín Recoder

Marina Torres, Anna Busquets — Po, 13 dub 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines the martyrial memory of Francisco Fernández de Capillas, the proto-martyr of China, through the works of Fernando Calva (1787) and Joaquín Recoder (1909). Beyond devotional biographies, these texts shaped a model of Christian virtue and served as tools of legitimacy for the Dominican mission in China. The analysis reveals continuities—such as hagiographical exaltation and imitatio Christi—and differences: Calva stresses spiritual edification, while Recoder, within the beatification process, highlights historical and canonical authority. The trajectory of this memory, culminating in Capillas’s beatification in 1909 and canonization in 2000, shows how his martyrdom became a symbolic resource within the transnational narrative of modern Catholicism.

Introduction: Narrating Catholic Martyrdoms Between Europe and Asia (13th–19th Centuries)

Iveta Nakládalová, Jana Valtrová — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Introduction to the Special Feature

Perspectives on Martyrdom among Medieval Franciscans in Asia

Jana Valtrová — Út, 16 čen 2026 00:00:00 +0200

The paper analyzes perspectives on martyrdom in Franciscan letters and accounts regarding
Christian missions in Asia during the 13th and 14th centuries. The accounts include,
among others, those of William of Rubruck, John of Plano Carpini, John of Montecorvino,
Andrew of Perugia, and Pascal of Vittoria. The aim of this analysis is to explore the authors’
views on the martyrdom of their fellow friars but also on martyrdom as a potential
and/or desirable part of their own mission. The paper points out a variety of attitudes to
martyrdom, ranging from an explicit desire to silent rejection, and considers the discourses
of memories of martyr death around medieval Asia, outside the regions under direct
Muslim rule.

End My Life on the Gallows: The Desire for Martyrdom in Early Modern Missionary Accounts

Iveta Nakládalová — Út, 16 čen 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Early modern missionary writings—relationes, letters, reports, and their later reworkings—often voice a desire for martyrdom. These ardent wishes to end one’s life on the gallows, as one missionary candidate stated in 1640, appear frequently in the indipetae letters and in accounts of martyrdom and other missionary texts. How should contemporary scholarship approach such expressions of desire? Are they merely rhetorical formulas, devoid of substantive meaning, or instances of religious propaganda intended to edify European audiences and promote evangelization in the Indies? And how should we understand the tension between the exalted ideal of martyrdom, on the one hand, and the lived experience of suffering, on the other? This paper examines the desire for martyrdom from a broader perspective, moving beyond both strict historiographical detachment and reductive interpretations in terms of propaganda. It focuses on late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Franciscan and Jesuit accounts from the Japanese and Chinese missions.

Historicizing Martyrdom in 19th and 20th Century Japan: A Political and Cul-tural Context

Hitomi Omata Rappo — Út, 16 čen 2026 00:00:00 +0200

The image of Japan as a “land of martyrs” was forged in early modern Europe through missionary accounts, relics, visual art, and theatrical performance, largely independent of Japanese realities. This article traces how this European construction was subsequently received, adapted, and appropriated within Japan itself from the mid-nineteenth century onward. Drawing on publications such as the Senketsu isho (1887) and the writings of Matsuzaki Minoru and Nitobe Inazō, it demonstrates that Japanese intellectuals did not passively inherit these images but actively reshaped them, fusing Christian martyrdom with concepts of national identity such as Yamato-damashii and bushidō. The article further examines how martyrdom discourse intersected with post-war memory politics, particularly in Nagasaki, contributing to what has been termed “Victimhood Nationalism.” It argues that the history of Japanese martyrdom cannot be understood within church history alone but must be situated at the intersection of European image-making, Japanese national identity, and the politics of memory.

Gilles Quispel, Gnóze jako světové náboženství

Miloš David — Po, 27 dub 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Recenze na knihu:

Gilles Quispel,
Gnóze jako světové náboženství
Jakub Hlaváček – Malvern, 2025

"Cambridge elements" in new religious movements : an introduction to the book series

Zdeněk Vojtíšek — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

[Jančařík, Zdeněk; Balík, Stanislav; Šebek, Jaroslav. Český bůh: hovory o historii, víře a ateismu]

Radim Byrtus — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

[Nilsson, Sanja. Children in new religious movements]

Jitka Schlichtsová — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

[Sheng Jiang. Religion of the Han Empire: postmortem transformation, immortality, and the rise of Daoism]

Ondřej Pazdírek — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Portraying the 'chosen samurai' : the creation of an idealized image of the Japanese in 16th-century Jesuit printed works

Jaime González-Bolado — Út, 30 čen 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article explores the creation and dissemination of an idealized portrayal of the Japanese in 16th-century Jesuit writings. Led by Alessandro Valignano, the members of the Society of Jesus depicted the Japanese as a sophisticated, rational, courteous, and virtuous people, who were ideal candidates for conversion to Christianity. This idealized portrayal, primarily shaped through a systematic comparative process, positioned the Japanese favorably relative to other Asian nations and, in certain aspects, to European culture. However, the private correspondence of the Jesuits reveals a more nuanced and critical view of the Japanese, exposing a clear divergence between public and private discourses within the Ignatian order. By examining an extensive catalog of Jesuit texts intended for public dissemination and comparing them with a selection of personal opinions conveyed through the private writings of certain missionaries, the article sheds light on an overlooked aspect of Jesuit textual production and the broader implications this had on the Jesuit mission in Japan, as well as its role in shaping early European perceptions of this country and its people.

Boundaries of the "official church" : local narratives from the Belarusian Orthodox Prošča monastery

Bahdan Serdziuk — Út, 30 čen 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines the boundaries of the "official church" through the lens of the lived religion concept using qualitative fieldwork conducted in the Belarusian Orthodox Prošča monastery. The study is based on an anthropological methodology: semi-structured interviews and participant observation, as well as analysis of documents and materials. The main goal is to trace, through the lens of local narratives, how clergy, pilgrims and local residents emically define and negotiate these boundaries in their religious lives. The results show that the concept of the "official church" or "official religion" is indeed important for believers, but it is also highly fluid and context-dependent. This study challenges established dichotomies between "official" and "folk" religion, demonstrating that the boundaries of the "official" are negotiated and redefined in practice, rather than being determined solely by theological doctrine or academic consensus. The study once again highlights the value of an emic perspective, where religion is understood through the lived experience of believers, rather than through imposed analytical categories.

Religionistické i lidské vzpomínání na Ivana Štampacha mezi Brnem, Pardubicemi a Prahou

Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Konference "Alternativní spiritualita", 16.-17. října 2025, Praha

Matouš Mokrý — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Zpráva z devátého ročníku islamologické konference, 13.-14. listopadu 2025, České Budějovice

Martin Klapetek — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Report on the Center for Studies on New Religions' 2025 conference, held in Cape Town, South Africa, between the 14th and 19th of November 2025

Márk Nemes — Út, 21 čec 2026 00:00:00 +0200