In 1582, four young Catholic seminarians from Nagasaki, Japan, set out on a long journey to Lisbon and Rome, for a convocation with Pope Gregory XIII to whom they relate the conversion of the Japanese people. Juliao, Mancio, Miguel and Martinho return to Japan having carried out their mission as pri

In 1582, four young Catholic seminarians from Nagasaki, Japan, set out on a long journey to Lisbon and Rome, for a convocation with Pope Gregory XIII to whom they relate the conversion of the Japanese people. Juliao, Mancio, Miguel and Martinho return to Japan having carried out their mission as priests--earthly disciples of Jesus. However, forty years later, the Shogun outlaws Catholicism following rumors that dangerous individuals, hungry for conquesting the empire, are using Christian faith as a cover. Several priests decide to flee Japan, others continue to teach clandestinely--however none of the seminarians are successful in escaping the horrific tortures and religious intolerance facing "men-of-the-cloth" who refuse to renounce their faith.