Brother Joseph is expelled from the Jesuits and renounces his faith

Brother Joseph’s expulsion from the Jesuits and renunciation of Christianity transform a private confession into an open break with the Society and the Church. The confrontation begins with his admitted breach of chastity, but widens into a challenge to the status of Japanese Jesuit brothers, then reaches its decisive point when Joseph refuses scourging and declares that he is Japanese and Shinto. His departure is not simply the punishment of a sinner: it exposes a conflict between religious obedience and a Japanese identity he refuses to set aside.

The Hearing and Its Charges

The hearing takes place at an inn in Yokosé, where Father Alvito is waiting to be summoned by Toranaga. He turns from the scene outside to address the Jesuit brothers assembled in the room, framing Joseph’s conduct as more than a personal lapse. Alvito charges him with breaking his vows of chastity and obedience, desecrating his soul, and disgracing his place in the Society and the Church. The other brothers deny having done likewise, making Joseph the sole subject of the judgment.

Joseph is gray with shame, and his confession emphasizes both his history of religious service and the isolation of his failure. He says he has been with the Jesuits since the age of eight, is now thirty, and has been sinless until this first lapse. He appeals to Christian forgiveness, insisting that priests are men too. Alvito rejects that defense by answering that they are priests: in the hearing’s terms, their vows define the standard by which Joseph is judged, not an excuse that can be set aside because they share ordinary human weakness.

The Dispute Over Ordination

Joseph’s defense quickly becomes an accusation against the Society’s treatment of its Japanese brothers. He says they are not professed or ordained, cannot take the fourth vow, and are therefore not real priests or real Jesuits. He asks why they should not be ordained, pointing to Brother Michael, who has studied since he was twelve, is now thirty-six, and has converted thousands, yet remains unordained. Joseph’s argument makes the hearing reach beyond his own misconduct: he questions the institution whose authority Alvito invokes to judge him.

Alvito orders Joseph to stop and promises that the brothers will be ordained in time. Joseph presses the unanswered question of when that time will come. Alvito’s reply, that it will come in God’s time, asserts the authority of religious patience and obedience; Joseph’s outburst makes the delay itself the issue. The exchange does not resolve the brothers’ status. Instead, it shows that a promise of future ordination cannot settle Joseph’s grievance in the present, especially when Alvito demands submission rather than debate.

Penance, Status, and Refusal

Alvito orders Joseph to kneel and pronounces him guilty of mortal sin, disobedience, and insolence. He bars him from Communion, confession, hearing confession, and participation in services until the Visitor-General can deal with the case. The initial penance is severe and specific: thirty days with only rice and water, thirty nights spent praying on his knees for forgiveness, and thirty lashes. The judgment places Joseph under the Society’s discipline while also declaring the depth of his offense against it.

Joseph accepts the ordered penance and apologizes, but refuses to be lashed like a common criminal. He distinguishes suffering from dishonor: pain and death, he says, are nothing, but he is a samurai and a member of Lord Harima’s family. His refusal makes social identity the boundary of his obedience. Alvito insists that he will be scourged, then raises his cross and orders the brothers to seize and strip him, threatening excommunication if Joseph does not obey. The discipline thus becomes a direct contest over who may define Joseph’s standing and what obedience requires of him.

Excommunication and the Final Gesture

Joseph produces a knife and stands with his back to the wall. The brothers halt, but Brother Michael approaches calmly and asks him to surrender it. Alvito declares Joseph excommunicated, casting the judgment as both an institutional exclusion and a spiritual condemnation. Joseph answers by renouncing the Christian God and declaring himself Japanese and Shinto; he also rejects the description of Japanese people as barbarians, extending his personal rupture into a defense of his countrymen.

The others turn away to pray, some sadly and others in shock, while Michael remains facing Joseph. Joseph removes his rosary and cross and is about to throw them away, but Michael asks for them as a simple gift. Joseph gives them to him. The gesture does not undo the renunciation or restore Joseph to the Church: he immediately reminds Michael that he has renounced God. Yet the exchange preserves a human bond at the point of separation. The cross passes from the excommunicated brother to the man who still intends to pray for him, leaving the scene with neither reconciliation nor simple erasure, but with a final act of recognition between them.