Shigenori Murakami, 69, the seventh-generation head of a group of 'Hidden Christians', waits for the participants of an ecumenical ceremony at Karematsu Shrine in Nagasaki, southern Japan, November 3, 2019. Japan's "Kakure Kirishitan," or "Hidden Christians," preserved their faith in secret during centuries of persecution. "I have not picked a successor yet, but I have confidence I can keep going myself and I will surely pass this on," Murakami said after the ceremony of Hidden Christians, Buddhists and Catholics at the shrine, dedicated to a Portuguese priest who died there in the 17th century. "I cannot let my generation be the ones who destroy what my ancestors protected with their lives." REUTERS/Issei Kato SEARCH "HIDDEN CHRISTIANS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.