The novel “Silence” is world famous today. For two decades it has been read in translation into English, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Polish and other languages. The author of the novel, Shusaku Endo, a winner of many Japanese literary awards, enjoys a reputation as one of the most brilliant prose writers of our time. He is called the “Japanese Graham Greene.” The novel “Silence” is based on real events of the mid-17th century, when the Japanese authorities, eradicating a new religion, brought down severe persecution on Christians. Three young Portuguese priests, well aware of the risks, make their way to this formidable country, tightly closed to foreigners, to refute rumors about the shameful apostasy of their teacher, Padre Ferreira, and to continue the secret preaching of Christianity in Japan.