Sotirianity in Senria
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The practice of Sotirianity in Senria is comparatively small, with roughly 4.2% of the country's population, or 10.87 million people, identifying Sotirianity as their religion in the 2015 census. In spite of composing a comparatively small portion of the Senrian population, Sotirianity has played an important and complicated role in Senrian history and culture since its introduction to the archipelago in the 16th century.
The majority of Senrian Sotirians are either Catholics or Amendists, with smaller Episemialist, Brethren, and nondenominational populations composing the remainder. Additionally, many non-Sotirian Senrians practice secularized and commercialized forms of Sotirian holidays.
History
The first appearance of organized Sotirianity within Senria came with the arrival of Luzelese and Hennish merchants in the 16th century, who brought Solarian Catholicism and Kasperist Amendism respectively. Luzelese efforts at proselytization began almost immediately following the establishment of contact between Luzela and Senria, whereas Hennish proselytization began later, largely in response to fears that the Luzelese would convert Senria to the "wrong form" of Sotirianity.
These early efforts, spearheaded by individuals such as Stephen Pererius, Baltasar Freitas, Jordi Subirachs, Pieter Luijtens, and Andries van der Poel benefitted from the political disunity of the Tigoku period and were successful enough to establish Sotirian communities within the country; both countries subsequently sought to draw priests and monks to Senria as a means of redoubling their conversion efforts. Senrian converts to Sotirianity were overwhelmingly members of Senria's lower castes, who were drawn to the egalitarian aspects of Sotirianity and the promise of heavenly salvation, but some individuals of higher rank did convert to Sotirianity, possibly regarding it as a means to guarantee access to Euclean trade, technology, and weaponry. A 1550 effort by Pererius to convert the incumbent Emperor of Senria was unsuccessful, with Pererius leaving Keisi after five months.
Many Senrians quickly became wary of Sotirian missionaries, however. Efforts at proselytizing were fiercely opposed by Senria's established Tenkyou, Zohist, and Badi clergy; daimyou and nobles, meanwhile, worried that the appeal of Sotirianity to the lower classes could become a source of social instability, and regarded the giving of Euclean-style Sotirian names to converts as a deliberate effort to subvert their authority and, eventually, establish Euclean rule over Senria. Simultaneously, rumors began to spread that Sotirian priests were destroying shrines and temples, and that Hennish and Luzelese merchants were using Sotirianity to lure Senrians into being sold as slaves. Increasing hostility towards Sotirianity within Senria led to a series of local bans, a series of wars between Sotirian and non-Sotirian daimyou, peasant revolts, and, eventually, the Toukei War and a nationwide ban on Sotirianity.
For the next two centuries, Eucleans were permitted to trade with Senria on the condition that they not engage in any proselytization or hold Sotirian religious ceremonies; religious books and icons found on Euclean ships docked in Senrian ports were confiscated and destroyed. Missionaries and converts who refused to renounce their faith were executed, often by crucifixion; many of these individuals were later canonized by the Solarian Catholic Church as the Martyrs of Senria.
Many Senrian converts, meanwhile, opted to publicly renounce their faith while continuing to practice in secret. These individuals became known as kakure sotiriyan, or "hidden Sotirians"; the kakure sotiriyan consisted of both Catholics and Amendists, who largely ignored or abandoned the theological differences between denominations in favor of trying to preserve increasingly distorted forms of Sotirian ritual. Kakure sotiriyan developed a variety of means of disguising the practice of Sotirianity, hiding Sotirian imagery in statues of non-Sotirian deities, adapting Sotirian prayers and hymns to sound like Zohist or Badi chant, and integrating the veneration of Sotirian saints and martyrs into traditional ancestor worship.
As Euclean military power in southern Coius expanded in the 1800s, leading Euclean nations began to demand an end to Senrian persecution of Sotirians. In 1848, the Emperor Youzei acceded to this demand, legalizing Sotirianity within Senria, though Sotirian missionary efforts remained banned. The establishment of the Keisi Legation Quarter in 1860 provided the leading Sotirian powers with a guaranteed base for proselytization efforts, which commenced even though they were technically illegal, as the Senrian government was not in a position to oppose them. The 1871 Constitution, enacted following the Keiou Restoration, established nominal freedom of religion within Senria and thereby legalized foreign missionary work; those kakure sotiriyan communities that had successfully survived the two preceding centuries came out of hiding and were overwhelmingly reintegrated into Euclean Sotirian sects, renouncing the heterodox practices that had developed while they were underground.
Missionary efforts formally backed by Euclean powers remained widespread until the abolition of the Legation Quarter during the Great War; since then, most proselytizing efforts have been undertaken independently by foreign or Senrian churches. 10.87 million people, or 4.2% of Senrians, identified themselves as Sotirian in 2015.
Major denominations
Catholicism
[early missionary efforts, spearheaded by luzelese, and persecution - Stephen Pererius, Francis Kisai, the Martyrs of Senria, etc. ]
[1800s-onwards stuff]
[current situation]
Amendism
[first amendists are hennish Kasperists; again, persecution]
[1800s-early 1900s sees Kasperists come back, and also Gospelism, Embrianism, Westmarckianism, Witterism all try their hands]
[in the late 1900s, baptist, restorationist (millerite, mormon), and charismatic (pentecostalist) types also arrive]
[current situation]
Episemialism
[episemialism brought over by soravians in the late 1800s]
[current situation]
Brethren Church
[arrives 1900 at the earliest; not very prominent]
Cultural impact
[hostility to euclean proselytization shaped senrian identity and proto-nationalism]
[sotirian influence on senrian new religions]
[some secularized sotirian holidays are big in senria; white weddings also popular]
