Japan Catholic News
June 2006
OITA DIOCESE ISSUES BOOKLET TO HELP FILIPINOS PARTICIPATE IN JAPANESE MASS
Catholic Weekly, June 25
 The Oita diocese has issued a booklet to help the 1,700 Filipinos who
are members of the diocese participate in the Mass in Japanese.
The pamphlet, Mass Guide, includes the prayers of the Mass in Japanese
characters and Roman script, English and Tagalog in parallel columns
on facing pages. This layout allows participants to follow the Mass
prayers in any of the languages while being able to give responses
in whichever language is being used to celebrate the Mass. The 34-page
booklet is designed to be easily carried.
Filipino Catholics are about one third the number of Japanese Catholics
in the diocese and until recently they had their own special communities
for worship and pastoral care. However, the diocese is making efforts
to become more open to the diversity of its members and so the special
communities are being phased out in favor of having Filipinos become
members of their local parishes.
Bishop Ryoji Miyahara of Oita, commenting on the publication of the
pamphlet, said, "We prepared this booklet because (as Scripture
teaches) there is neither Jew nor Greek nor Roman, but all should be
able to participate together in the Mass regardless of nationality."
"There are churches where Filipinos are among the core members, but
there are other places where they and Japanese Catholics don't
come together," he added. "I hope this booklet will be
useful in providing pastoral care."
The diocese intends to continue providing Masses in Tagalog as a way
of showing respect for the culture and language of each person while
emphasizing as well the building of "a Church without nationalities" in
local parishes.
Mass Guide is available from the Oita diocese for ¥100
per copy. For information or to order copies, call 097-532-3397.
TEACHERS FROM CATHOLIC COLLEGE VOLUNTEER IN INDONESIA QUAKE ZONE
Catholic Weekly, June 25
 A week after a May 27 earthquake claimed some 5,700 victims
on the Indonesian island of Java, two nursing teachers from
Tokyo's
Seibo University went there to provide care for medical personnel affected
by the disaster.
Describing the situation at Bethesda Hospital in Yogyakarta where even
storerooms were being used to house patients, Chizu Usui, 54, said, "Some
of the staff were dead, others had lost their homes. It reminded me
of Kobe." She was referring to the 1995 Hanshin earthquake that
caused more than 6,000 deaths, most of them in Kobe.
Usui, an assistant professor who specializes in disaster relief, was
accompanied by Yoshiko Chiba, a 38-year-old teacher who had previous
experience working in Indonesia.
According to Chiba, "The expression on the faces of nurses who
had suffered was very determined."
Sumiko Tsuhako, 57, is the coordinator of the project to send nursing
volunteers from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary-run school to the
quake zone. According to her, people at the school wondered if in the
face of the disaster there were anything that they could do that would
exemplify the school's motto, "Through love to truth."
"In any case, we had to move quickly," said Tsuhako.
A decision was made to provide emotional support to nurses in Java,
and university authorities decided to treat the teachers' time
away as an official trip.
Usui commented that an important aspect of modern disaster relief is
providing care for emergency workers. "In a disaster, care for
those who are active is very important," she said.
An emergency collection at Seibo and related institutions brought in
¥600,000 as well as medicines, towels and other items that were
packaged as "Love, Care Bags" that the two volunteers took with
them to Indonesia to distribute to medical personnel who had lost family
members or homes or who had been injured.
 Usui and Chiba brought 50 of the bags with them to Indonesia. However,
when they arrived, they found that 100 bags were needed, so they repacked
the supplies to make the necessary number.
A second objective was to assist in communications. The Seibo team
alerted other Japanese medical volunteers to needs outside Yogyakarta.
According to Usui, more people were affected in the rural areas than
in the city.
"The farming villages were destroyed," she said.
The volunteers also conducted earthquake-preparedness training sessions,
stressing the importance of such steps as taking shelter under tables
or desks in the event of a quake. Such measures are not well-known
in Indonesia.
This was the first time that Seibo has sent teaching staff to assist
in disaster relief.
Tsuhako, who organized the activity, had met a German nurse who worked
at the Bethesda Hospital in central Java when the two took part in
a study session just before the earthquake. Just after returning from
the session, Tsuhako received a phone call from the nurse, asking for
assistance.
"The problem now is what to do from now on," said Usui.
The number of people who need rehabilitation is large and it is still
unclear how much assistance the Indonesian government will provide.
Few patients can afford to pay for their care and the Bethesda Hospital
is already finding it difficult to feed them.
Seibo will continue to provide assistance to the hospital. For information
about helping, telephone 03-3950-0171.
JAPANESE CATHOLIC HELPS BUILD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN
Catholic Weekly, June 11
The education of women was never a priority anywhere in Afghanistan,
which five years after the defeat of the Taliban government by American,
British and other troops is still struggling to rebuild its economy
and maintain law and order. A Japanese Catholic, Satoko Kitahara, is
determined that even a remote village in Badakhshan should have a girls'
school.
Kitahara, 37, a parishioner of the Kojimachi Church in Tokyo, is presently
on the staff of the United Nations World Food Organization. She said
her interest in building a school was spurred by seeing the children's
eagerness to study.
"It was a delight listening to the dreams they had for their own future.
I decided I would do something to make the dreams come true," she
said.
The school in Rog, Badakhshan province, will be state-run. Rog is 90
kilometers from Faizabad, which is an hour from Kabul by plane. The
drive through the mountains from Faizabad to Rog takes six to nine
hours.
Kitahara, originally attached to World Vision Japan, moved to UNICEF
on March 2002 and was engaged on one of their educational projects
in Badakhshan.
In 2003, the Afghan provisional government and international organizations
began a move to restore educational facilities throughout the country.
In Rog girls began to attend classes but they had no school of their
own. Islamic practice demands that girls and boys be educated separately,
but having no building of their own the girls had to borrow classrooms
in a boys' school and take lessons in private houses.
The board of education in Rog had no money to build a school but when
Kitahara suggested a fund-raising campaign they went along with the
idea.
"Even the parents became interested. It was an opportunity not to be
missed," she said.
In order to avoid the winter months when building is impossible, they
put forward their plans and began building last autumn. Their goal
is a school for girls from six to 18 years of age in 12 classes of
40 students each. By adopting a two shift system, they hope to educate
1,000 girls. Fundraising to complete the building and furnish it is
now under way.
The project has been named "Choronay," which in the local
Dali dialect word means "Why say it can't be done?"
Friends of Kitahara in Japan are also pushing forward with the fundraising.
She holds report meetings with them every time she returns to Japan.
"People's interest in Afghanistan has begun to flag recently,
so although our aim is to raise enough money to finish and equip the
school, we also want to revive people's interest in Afghanistan," she
said.
Among her supporters in Japan are fellow catechumens from the doctrine
class at Sophia University with whom she prepared for baptism.
One of them, Akira Yamamoto,67, (Zushi Church, Kanagawa prefecture)
said, "Of all those who were baptized together at that time,
Ms. Kitahara seemed the most frail and delicate. It is amazing that
she can tackle something like this. I have a feeling she represents
a lot of us here in Japan who wish we had the same courage. That is
my reason for helping."
For information about helping Project Choronay, call 090-3244-4469.
NUMBER OF CATHOLICS HAS INCREASED,
BUT MASS ATTENDANCE,
NUMBER OF BAPTISMS ARE DOWN
Catholic Weekly, June 18
 The
secretariate of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Japan has announced
the 2005 Catholic Church statistics. When compared with
the figures for 2000 there is an increase of 7,560 Catholics, while
the number attending Sunday Mass has decreased by 3,738.
The statistics announced each year are based on figures compiled by
each diocese from responses they receive from every parish. The figures
are calculated at the end of December.
According to the report, the total number of registered
Catholics in Japan is 452,800, comprising 0.36 percent
of the population.
Nagasaki
archdiocese, with 4.41 percent of the population Catholic, has the
largest proportion of Catholics. In every other diocese Catholics constitute
less than one percent of the total population.
The number of people attending Sunday Mass (apart from Christmas and
Easter) in Japan stands at 122,054. This is a slight increase on the
previous year, but a drop of 22,000 compared with 10 years ago.
 The number of people receiving baptism continued to decrease for the
fifth consecutive year, and when compared with adult baptisms, the
number of children's baptisms shows a larger decrease.
In February of last year the Catholic Commission of Japan
for Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move (J-CARM) announced
that there were
565,712 Catholics of foreign nationality not included in the official
Church statistics. This figure was calculated by taking the number
of registered foreigners of each nationality released by the Ministry
of Justice and using the percentage of Catholics among the total population
of each country to estimate the number of Catholics. When this number
is added on to the number of Japanese Catholics in the official Church
statistics the total comes to over one million Catholics in Japan.
However, according to Sister Yukie Nogami of the Handmaids
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, secretary of J-CARM, the figure
in the latest report
is "not inaccurate." Church statistics show the total number
of people registered at churches, and do not show the number of people
who are unregistered. There are many countries that do not have the
practice of recording registrations and movements of Catholics apart
from the baptismal register.
 It is also said that the number of Catholics of foreign nationality
announced by the commission is inaccurate, since it relies upon the
figures for foreigners released by the Ministry for Justice. However,
there are also foreigners who do not register with the government.
The Church statistics also sometimes include in the number of Japanese
Catholics non-Japanese people who have registered at parishes.
The largest difference the 2005 statistics show when compared with
the 2000 statistics is in the number of priests, which has decreased
by 10 percent to 1,516, a drop of 178 in five years. One hundred and
forty-five, or 80 percent of this decrease is in the number of foreign
priests. The number of sisters has fallen by 351 (a decrease of five
percent) and the number of brothers by 49 (a decrease of 20 percent).
The number of parishes has fallen by 14, leaving a total of 801.
SEMINAR IN NIIGATA LOOKS AT PASTORAL CARE OF FOREIGNERS
Catholic Weekly, June 18
 The Catholic Commission of Japan for Migrants, Refugees and People
on the Move held the Tokyo Regional Niigata Seminar on the pastoral
care of Catholics of foreign nationality at the Nigata Catholic Center
May 16-17. Over 40 people participated in the seminar that covered
all matters relating to the pastoral care of Catholics from abroad.
According to Father Tsutomu Sato of the Niigata diocese, one of the
seminar organizers, "It is quite usual now for foreign women
to come to marry men in rural communities. Some foreign wives have
been living here for over 20 years."
One of the speakers at the seminar was Professor Itaru Nagasaka of
Niigata University of International and Information Studies. Nagasaka
spoke about the history and recent trends in the emigration policy
of the Philippine government, explaining the background to its efforts
to send people to work in foreign countries.
A former director of the Joetsu Public Health Center, Mikiko Fujiwara,
spoke about her work with Franciscan Father Mario Canducci during the
1990's, caring for pregnant foreign women. She also talked of
how the Church later cooperated with the local government in assisting
foreigners in the Joetsu region.
Reflecting on the recent work of foreign Catholics in Niigata, Fr.
Sato said, "In sparsely populated areas where there are many
elderly people, women with a high level of education have come in from
the Philippines, Korea and China, and while rearing their children
have started many new activities. They have taken on leadership roles
along with Japanese and are spreading a new culture among Japanese
people."
NANZAN GAKUEN TO OPEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN NAGOYA
Catholic Weekly, June 11
The Society of the Divine Word (SVD), parent organization of Nanzan
Gakuen, is planning to open an elementary school in Nagoya in April
2008. The plan was approved by the board of directors and was announced
by board president Fr. Michael Calmano SVD on May 19.
The school is to be built on a site adjoining the junior and senior
high schools for boys run in connection with Nanzan University. The
new school is tentatively being called Nanzan Gakuen Elementary School.
The school's educational policy will be founded in a Christian
world view and will concentrate on character building and the inculcation
of respect for the individual. The coeducational school will have three
classes of 30 students in each year for a full enrollment of 540 students.
Aichi prefecture has only one privately-run elementary school, so the
new school is expected to give parents a wider choice.
Takeru Yasuda, head of the planning department of the Nanzan Gakuen
school corporation, said that Nanzan had an elementary school from
1936 to1941, but it was closed with the promulgation of the National
School Law. Post-war records show that the board was thinking of reopening
the elementary school in 1951, and the present plan fits in with the
founder's wishes for a comprehensive educational system.
The year 2007 will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of Nanzan
Gakuen and the centenary of the first SVD mission in Japan. Besides
completing the final link in the comprehensive educational scheme,
the new school is considered a fitting memorial to the two anniversaries.
'ODD-JOBBER' IN PALESTINE TELLS OF CHALLENGES FACING THE POOR
Catholic Weekly, June 4
Rika Fujiya, 39, of the Kudamatsu Church in Yamaguchi prefecture has
worked in Palestine since 1995.
"Palestine," she said, "is a place where awkward problems
abound. Eleven years have gone by without my noticing, and there is
still so much to be done."
Fujiya is on-the-spot survey officer for the Japan International Volunteer
Center (JVC). Local people are hired to carry out the actual projects
and Fujiya is the only JVC employee there. She calls herself an "odd-jobber," one
who does whatever needs doing.
The refugee camp where she works is for Palestinians and the JVC has
been helping out in the Handara Culture Center there ever since it
opened.
"We have a children's library and a computer room. We give supplementary
school lessons and dance lessons. We even have a soccer team," she
explained.
"A group of mothers does embroidery to augment their family income,
and we keep hoping the government will eventually take over the running
of the center."
"The refugee camp is close to an Israeli army base, so in order that
the children can play without fear and at their ease we borrowed a
site in a neighboring town last year and held a summer camp there for
our children. They are looking forward to going there again this summer."
"The children are undernourished, so in collaboration with other NGOs
we distribute biscuits and milk to them six days a week. These are
produced in the West Bank district so it is a boost for business there
also."
"On the West Bank, Israel is still building its dividing wall, with
the result that Palestine is being broken up into smaller segments.
Movement is restricted and educational and medical facilities are limited.
JVC is planning to do something about medical care in the future."
"We hear," she said, "that the per capita income in Israel
is ten times the income in Palestine. In such an unbalanced situation
it is hard to find fair solutions. These are problems that can only
be solved locally and I keep hoping that if only we had peace, and
the people could go about their lives without fear, the poor and the
underprivileged could gain some strength."
Fujiya said she grew up listening to stories of people who lived full
lives in poor circumstances. In junior high school he went for a home
stay with a family in the Philippines. During her college years she
took part in a program organized by the Visitation Sisters at a medical
clinic in a Philippine village. Even after taking up employment in
the Hiroshima Health Office, she spent her summer holidays in India
working with the Missionaries of Charity.
Fujiya said that she wondered how she could spend longer periods working
overseas, and thought of the numerous NGOs. Since then, no matter which
NGO he was attached too, she always ended up in Palestine. At present
she returns to Japan three times a year and continues her post-graduate
studies at a university here.
In elections for the Palestinian parliament last January, Hamas, upholders
of fundamentalist Islam, won an overwhelming victory. Since then, the
U.S. and the EU have cut back on aid to Palestine, but Fujiya said, "If
aid is cut off completely, the situation could become very dangerous
indeed."
"Granted something must be done to deter suicide bombing, but if aid
is cut off," she added, "it is the poor and the weak who
will suffer. The situation must be weighed and considered from all
sides."
The number of undernourished children has increased since April, Fujiya
said. "Even the adults need some supplement to their diet."
"It is easy," she said, "to be interested in these problems
at the political level, but the ones who take action are the common
folk at ground level. These are the ones you must think of."
Beginning this summer she intends to focus most of her activity on
Japan, telling people of her experiences so far.
'MICHAEL WHO?' -- FAMED SINGER VISITS CHILDREN'S HOME IN TOKYO
Catholic Weekly, June 18
The renowned American singer Michael Jackson, in Tokyo to attend a
music prize-giving ceremony, paid a visit to Seibi Home, a large Catholic
children's home in Kita-ku, Tokyo, on Sunday evening, May 28.
He was welcomed by approximately 140 children, Sisters and members
of the staff.
Making his first trip to Japan since being found innocent of charges
of sexually molesting children in June of last year, this was Jackson's
first appearance in public.
According to the vice principal, Hideto Yamamoto (54, a member of Kita-Urawa
Church, Saitama diocese), the first news of Jackson's visit was
a telephone call to the principal, Sister Kiyoko Mito of the Salesian
Sisters.
"The principal received a telephone call on Friday, May 26. 'It
seems he's coming' she told me. 'Michael who?' everyone
was asking. 'He couldn't be coming here,' they were
all saying. After Mass on Sunday I contacted Sister Mito, and she confirmed
he was coming. All the staff were asked to come to work urgently."
The children in the home, who range from two to 18 years of age, played
music on the koto (Japanese harp), and performed traditional Japanese
dances. Although the other children were supposed to sit watching the
performers, "they were all looking back at Michael, and taking
pictures. There was great excitement," said Yamamoto. At the
end, all of the children joined Jackson on the stage for a commemorative
photograph.
Nozomi Nakajima, one of the staff members who played the koto with
the children, said that when they finished playing Jackson came over
to the children and talked with them through an interpreter
As Nakajima described the conversation, "When he asked them, 'Do
you sing 'Sukiyaki' (the English title of a popular Japanese
song) the children replied, 'We prefer yakiniku (grilled meat)
to sukiyaki (boiled slices of beef).'"
NEWLY ORDAINED PRIESTS OFFER MASS AT LEPROSY SANATORIUM TO THANK PATIENTS
FOR SUPPORT
Catholic Weekly, June 4
 Saburo Baba is chairman of the Aitoku-kai association of the Catholic
patients at the National Tamazen-Seien Leprosy Sanatorium in Higashi
Muraya, Tokyo, has made it his personal apostolate as a Catholic with
Hansen's disease to offer his prayers and sufferings in union
with the passion of Christ for the intention of vocations to the priesthood.
This spring, in thanksgiving for Baba's support and prayers,
four newly-ordained priests together with the members of the Aitoku-kai,
the pastors of the nearby Akitsu and Kiyose parishes and 50 Catholics
from those parishes celebrated Mass in the chapel of the sanatorium
May 24.
The four priests, who had been ordained three weeks earlier, are Fathers
Satoshi Akaiwa (Tokyo archdiocese), Touru Funayama (Sendai diocese),
Yasuo Watanabe (Tokyo archdiocese) and Hiroyuki Yamada (Yokohama diocese).
This is the first time that newly-ordained diocesan priests have celebrated
Mass at the sanatorium.
Baba, offering encouragement to the new priests, said, "It certainly
was not a joy to be afflicted with Hansen's disease, but being
able to bear this disease as a cross and to offer this cross as a prayer
for priestly vocations has been a joy."
After Mass the four priests visited Catholic patients who were not
able to attend Mass. They distributed Holy Communion and gave their
blessings to each patient.
Among the patients was 84-year-old Yoshiharu Tokoro, previous chairman
of the Aitoku-kai, who is now suffering from incurable cancer. After
celebrating his birthday on May 1, Tokoro's consciousness began
to wane. Turning his pain from cancer into a prayer for priests, he
said, "I will hold on until I can meet the new priests."
 When the priests came to visit him, Tokoro pushed himself up a bit
and received Communion. Then showing his joy at the priests' visit,
he said to them in his characteristic rough Tokyo dialect, "Stand
firm as priests. Stay on the train. Don't ever jump off and quit
the priesthood!"
In response, Fr. Watanabe, in a voice choking with emotion, gave Mr.
Tokoro his blessing and said, "It is thanks to all your prayers
that I have been able to become a priest. It is thanks to you I am
here now. I am deeply moved. I want to make this day my heart's
starting day as a priest."
Following this, the four priests plan to go to Shizuoka Prefecture,
where, on June 25 they will celebrate Mass with Catholic patients at
Kouyama Fukusei Hospital and Suruga Sanitorium.
YOKOHAMA DIOCESAN PRIEST RETURNS FROM UGANDA
Catholic Weekly, May 28
Father Takashi Motoyanagi (44), a Yokohama diocesan priest, returned
to Japan in March after spending three years working in the diocese
of Kotido in the northeastern part of Uganda in East Africa.
After six months language study in neighboring Kenya, Fr. Motoyanagi
spent three years working at the cathedral parish of Kotido diocese.
During this time he was also in charge of four chapels in the parish
of Loyoro, 40 kilometers to the north.
More than half of the approximately 10,000 people who live in Kotido
city are Catholics. Approximately 1,000 people live in Loyoro. Six
years ago Comboni missionaries from Italy began working there, and
more than 70 percent of the people are Catholic.
"However, since most of them do not come to Mass, I never thought there
were so many," said Fr. Motoyanagi.
"Perhaps it is because of polygamy, but there are very few church weddings," he
added. "Nor are there any funerals. Touching a corpse is taboo.
But things are changing, and people are gradually burying their dead."
The priest said that in Loyoro, more than pastoral work, he was doing
civil administration-type work. In villages where there was only a
school and a clinic, people came to the church for advice about disputes
and physical attacks. The priest was called in as a mediator. He also
had to take injured people to clinics in other villages.
People in the area where Fr. Motoyanagi worked spoke English and Karimojon.
It normally takes three months to learn to speak Karimojon, but Fr.
Motoyanagi studied it for only one month, until the Italian priest
who was teaching him was murdered.
Cattle are continually stolen in that area and this causes much tribal
conflict. The Italian priest had become caught up in one of these disputes.
People put their cattle out to graze during the rainy season, and cultivate
the fields during the dry season. They lead a semi-agricultural and
semi-pastoral life. Cattle are a symbol of wealth.
According to the priest, more efficient methods of livestock breeding
and farming, along with literacy education are necessary. But the Catholic
Church is the only organization providing assistance.
Fr. Motoyanagi observed, "Security is a problem, so aid organizations
will not go there."
Troops are stationed in some areas, but most places are unprotected.
It is easy to acquire guns and the different ethnic groups have a history
of fighting each other, making reconciliation difficult. Mediation
efforts on the part of the Catholic Church bring about some peace,
but no one knows how long it can last, said the priest. If public safety
were stable, Fr. Motoyanagi said, the riches of the natural environment
could draw tourists.
Fr. Motoyanagi himself received threats once. He went into hiding,
but did not leave the country.
"I felt there was meaning in continuing to stay there. I believed I
was being used for something," he said.
People he met were surprised when he told them he was a Japanese priest.
"The image people have of Japan is corporations and people cannot see
individual faces. So from that point of view I suppose there was meaning
in my being there."
While working as a lay missionary in Kenya, Fr. Motoyanagi felt called
to the priesthood. He was ordained for the Yokohama diocese in 1995.
He said he always thought, "If I become a priest, I would like
to return to Africa once more." He is the first priest from a
Japanese diocese sent to Africa.
Commenting on what Japan's Catholics can do for the people he
served in Uganda, Fr. Motoyanagi said, "I would like people to
know what is actually happening now in Africa."
He continued, "When people show interest, it encourages the people
over there. They do not feel abandoned."
FIRST STEPS TAKEN IN FORMATION OF NEW PARISH IN SAITAMA DIOCESE
Catholic Weekly, May 28
The Catholic Weekly has begun a series of occasional articles that
will trace the development of a new parish in Joho, Ibaragi prefecture.
The series will look at the process and challenges involved in founding
a new community. The following is the first article in the series.
When Sister Mitsue Shirahama (59) of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity
approached Bishop Daiji Tani of Saitama diocese with a suggestion that
the diocese open a new parish in Ibaragi prefecture, the bishop answered, "It
would be a good idea to think about that!"
That was in the spring of 2005. Sr. Shirahama suggested that a church
be built there when the city of Joso would merge with the town of Kyuishige
in January 2006. According to the nun, when she discussed her idea
with other members of her congregation, their surprised reaction was, "Building
a new church in Japan is unusual."
Sr. Shirahama began to work in Saitama diocese in 2000. A Brazilian
of Japanese descent, she went to Kyuishige to work among other Brazilians
living in the area after one of the leaders of a basic community invited
her, saying, "there are many Brazilians and we hold liturgies
of the Word, so do come!"
Later they found a priest to celebrate Mass with them, but this stopped
after two years. Since April of last year Father Olmes Milani (60)
of the Scalabrini Missionaries comes from Tokyo to help. Since then,
the community, which meets in the local public hall, has settled at
between 80 and 100 Brazilians who gather when Mass is offered.
"
Use of the public hall is decided by lottery, so there are times when
we cannot use it," said Sr. Shirahama. "People wish to
be able to hold Bible study meetings and prayer meetings on weekdays
too, and I told Bishop Tani about this."
Bishop Tani presented Sr. Shirahama's idea about a new church
at the diocesan pastoral meeting and other places last Spring, and
received a generally favorable response.
An investigation by the diocese has shown that the southern part of
Ibaragi prefecture is an area where the population of both migrants
and Japanese is increasing, and it is possible to acquire land there.
The diocesan chancellor, Deacon Sadato Yabuki (67), said that in the
distribution of parishes there is a vacuum in that area. Japanese Catholics
living there go to churches in Shimodate, Tsukuba, Tsuchiura and other
places.
The bishop's counselors met in July last year and in their report
stated they were considering the proposal that a church be built in
the area because of the increase in the overall population and of that
of Catholics.
Sr. Shirahama and Deacon Yabuki carried out a study of the area and
submitted a report to the counselor's December meeting.
According to the chancellor, the diocese is aiming to begin construction
in the spring of 2008 and their plans will be incorporated into the
pastoral/missionary strategy of the diocese.
The deacon said, "Since we are trying to streamline diocesan
activities, the bishop is not thinking of building a large church.
He wants to care for small communities and build churches where they
are needed."
The diocese will purchase land and Deacon Yabuki and the diocesan office
have begun a search for a suitable site. In April, a newly ordained
deacon, Masataka Nagazawa (52) took responsibility for construction
of the church, and planning continues with Sr. Shirahama and the others
involved.
The Scalabrini Missionaries, who are based in Tokyo, have informally
agreed to send a Brazilian priest who will take charge of pastoral
care. The Japanese and Brazilian Catholics' dream of their own
church is gradually becoming a reality.
How will the construction of the new church progress in this era of
a shortage of priests and greying Catholics? The Catholic Weekly intends
to follow the plan's progress and keep readers informed.
"Nippon Notes"by William Grimm
THE DA VINCI CODE IS A CALL TO CONVERSION
UCAN
TOKYO (UCAN) -- I've noticed a few people reading the Japanese translation
of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code on trains here in Tokyo, and
there are some exhibits in town at museums and elsewhere about Leonardo
da Vinci. I assume the exhibits are meant to be extra advertising for
the film version of the novel, which has opened in Japan.
Whether or not the book and film are a financial success in Japan remains
to be seen, though the film distributor is planning a three-month run
in theaters around the country and obviously expects a big audience.
I have read the book and found it only moderately interesting, poorly
written and, of course, wildly inaccurate. But then, it's fiction,
and in a genre -- murder mysteries -- that I do not usually read. Perhaps
it is a good example of a murder mystery, and I just do not have enough
experience in reading them to recognize a good one.
I do not plan to see the movie, partly because of taste and partly
because reviewers have panned it, but mostly because I do not want
to further enrich people who are making money off of a parody of things
that are important to me, the main one being truth.
Though bishops and other Church leaders in some other countries have
called for boycotts or have petitioned, sometimes successfully, to
have the film banned in their countries, the Japanese bishops have
not made any public declarations about the book or the movie.
I do not know whether this is due to a lack of interest, a realization
that they would be ignored, a desire to not be used as one more element
in the publicity campaign or some other reason.
In any case, I am happy that they have resisted the temptation to speak
out. A Christian version of the uproar over cartoons that offended
Muslims would only be further publicity for the book and film.
In fact, though, the uproar has reached the point where, in fairness,
Brown's publisher and the film distributor should turn over part of
their advertising budgets to the Church people whose conniptions have
provided free publicity and made people wonder if all the squawking
might indicate that Brown is on to something. They wonder why Church
leaders are so upset if it is pure fiction that the Catholic Church
has kept the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene secret for two thousand
years. (As if the Catholic Church can keep anything secret for long.
After all, we know that Pope Benedict was elected in the conclave with
84 votes -- a secret that could not be kept for even a few months.)
One thing the squawkers and, I suppose, all us Church functionaries
could do while waiting for the advertising budget check to arrive would
be to ask ourselves why folks are willing to believe a cockamamie conspiracy
theory in mediocre prose rather than us, even when we have facts and
common sense to back us up.
It is not likely that Brown's book would have attracted the attention
that it has attracted if it had been about Sophocles, Caesar, Genghis
Khan or Karl Marx. People remain fascinated by Jesus, even when they
do not know much about him. They assume that there must be some mysterious
fact that accounts for his continuing impact on the lives of men and
women. Obviously, for a lot of people the Church has not done a good
job of conveying that mystery.
The easy way out is to blame people for not listening. That's a common
clerical cop-out that fails to recognize that most failures in communication
are the fault of the communicator, not the audience.
If we cannot or will not present the case for the Church's understanding
of Jesus in a way that engages people, even if it does not convince
them, the fault is ours. There is curiosity out there that indicates
a longing for something deeper than the day-to-day. We claim to have
found it. Are we at least as convincing in word and deed as the latest
fiction?
The fact that the novel and movie could attract such a huge audience
even in those parts of the world with the longest history of Christian
evangelization is a sad commentary on the life of the Catholic Church
today.
Do we have the intellectual, artistic, emotional and, ultimately, spiritual
integrity that can challenge, encourage and attract modern people?
If we have them where are they? Have we put all our lights under bushel
baskets? Is it the world's fault, the devil's fault or our fault that
people's interest in Jesus is being answered by Dan Brown instead of
us?
The Da Vinci Code is mediocre fiction, but perhaps it is also a call
to conversion for mediocre Christians.
Maryknoll Father William Grimm is editor-in-chief of Katorikku Shimbun,
Japan's Catholic weekly.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the
writer and do not represent the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan.
back to top
CENTENARY OF JAPANESE EMIGRATION TO BRAZIL APPROACHES
Catholic Weekly, May 21
As a lead-up to the 2008 centenary of Japanese emigration to Brazil,
the self-help association Kansai Brazil Community celebrated its annual
festival April 22-29 in the former Kobe-Hyogo Emigrant Center with
a photo exhibition and videos showing the early days of Japanese in
Brazil. There was also a variety of events illustrating Brazilian culture.
Among the participants were fifth-generation Brazilians of Japanese
descent.
The ship Kasado Maru left Kobe carrying the first immigrants on April
28, 1908. Since then, around one million Japanese have emigrated. Of
that number, 250,000 left from Kobe and 150,000 from Yokohama.
The city of Kobe plans to celebrate the centenary in two years, and
lest the history of those times be lost, a movement is under way to
have the Kobe Emigration Center preserved as a memorial to Japanese
overseas.
On the Church's side, the Catholic Bishops' Conference
of Japan's desk for Refugees, Migrants and People on the Move (J-CARM)
is planning to offer special Masses and hold pilgrimages and other
events over the two years leading up to the centenary. Also, in order
to promote understanding of immigrants from Brazil and provide a more
complete system of pastoral care for them, J-CARMis putting together
material meant to help evangelization.
Katsuyuki Takahashi, 61, a Catholic teaching at Keiko Junior and Senior
High School, left for Paraguay at the age of 12.
Commenting on his experiences and his hopes for the workers from overseas,
he said, "It is said that 320,000 Brazilians of Japanese descent
have come to work in Japan. Because they cannot speak Japanese or read
kanji they experience a great deal of hardship. I wish the State had
some policy concerning the hardship Japanese emigrants face overseas,
and that it would also give some thought to the difficulties of the
immigrants working here now. I hope that the Church too will always
give them a warm welcome."
CATHOLICS IN HIROSHIMA DIOCESE USE LOCAL RADIO FOR EVANGELIZATION
Catholic Weekly, May 21
For 10 years, priests, Religious and lay people have taken turns conducting
a weekly radio broadcast in the Yamaguchi and Shimane districts of
the Hiroshima diocese.
"The Sunday Gospel" airs every Sunday morning from 7:45 to 8:00
on KRY Yamaguchi Radio. Since the first broadcast in April 1996 more
than 120 people have taken part.
Each month, the program presents a different theme covering a wide
spectrum of topics such as education, welfare and social problems.
Sometimes the program consists of the sermon for that Sunday's
Mass.
It was Kanji Fujiya, 66, then employed at the KRY Yamaguchi Radio studio,
who suggested that the districts produce a radio program as a means
of evangelization. The Jesuits provided financial help to begin the
project.
"Listening to radio stimulates the imagination," said Fujiya. "It
is the medium most suited to spreading the Good News. On local radio
the distance factor is eliminated -- speaker and listener feel close."
Jesuit Father Domenico Vitali, 68, now the pastor of the Tokuyama Church,
was the district representative at that time. He told the Catholic
Weekly that previous generations of missionaries made contact with
society through kindergartens and schools but in the sphere of people's
day-to-day life missionaries were inclined to keep to church community
members. Using the radio was a completely new experiment.
Because the program is not beamed to a nationwide audience, it is possible
to introduce listeners to what is taking place in the district. A program,
for instance, that drew a big response from listeners was one conducted
by a Sister who hails from Shimonoseki.
For Fujiya, however, there was one unforgettable broadcast in April
1999 that went 30 minutes over time. It was an interview with Fr. Arturo
Chirino, a Jesuit priest who was in a hospice for the dying.
"Cancer is best," he told listeners, "because you know you
are going to die and you can prepare to meet God."
He died the following month. The studio received many requests for
recordings of the interview.
Now, with the spread of the Internet there is some discussion as to
whether the broadcast should be continued.
"It is costly, but in the end the radio is the easiest to use," said
Fr. Vitali. Therefore, it has been decided to continue the program
for this year.
The annual cost comes to 3 million yen so the organizers are searching
for sponsors. Experiments with sending out the program on Internet
are also continuing.
Fujiya said he prays that even a few more people may come to know the
gospel through these broadcasts. It is his hope that instead of listening
to a program all alone, groups such as local women's societies could
listen to the program to start discussion or gather ideas for activities.
"Who knows? A church function could become a local community event.
It would be nice to share with others the joy of living with Christ," he
said.
"SEAFARER'S DAY" MESSAGE
from Catholic Commission of Japan for Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move
 The
Pontifical Council of Migrants and Itinerant calls all Catholics
to pray for the Seafarers on the 2nd Sunday of July ( July 9, 2006),
the Sunday which the Pontifical Council has set up as Sea Sunday.
We feel the seafarers are far from us, but we depend on them to our daily
food and needs. All the daily needs which are imported amount to 110,000,000
tons/ year, which is 8 tons/year per person. 80% of this amount is by ship.
That means we can't live without the work of seafarers. We live so
closed to the "Seafarers".
Seafarers are living in loneliness separated far from their own families
for a long time. And they live always with danger. You can recall easily
two accidents that happened recently in Tokyo Bay.
On the 13th of April, around 5:20 am., there two ships crashed 9 kilometers
off Chiba-ken Tateyama-shi, near the entrance of Tokyo Bay. "Eastern
Challenge" the Philippine Cargo Ship the collided with the Cargo
Ship "Tsugaru-Maru". The left bow of "Eastern Challenge" was
damaged, filled with water and sank after noon. There were 25 Filipino
members, and fortunately all of them were saved. AOS members had visited
those seamen before. According to the AOS members who visited them after
the accident, many crew were suffering from PTSD experiencing, as insomnia,
suddenly hearing the sound of the crash or unable to look at the sea.
On the same day at 6:15 am., the "Sun Flower", Car Cargo Ship
and the Cargo Ship "Kaisen-Maru"collided. One of the crew said
it was the longest day of his 15 years as a seamam. Another crew member
had been saved once from his sinking ship in South Africa.
In the Ocean, there is fear and danger of attack by pirate. They need
to watch out day and night. In the war zones also, they encounter danger
and fear. The seamen suffer from such stress. Let us also consider that
if Article 9 of Japanese Constitution is revised, the seamen will be the
very first ones to be sent to the front line in order to transport military
goods.
Thus the seafarers are supporting our lives in severe conditions.
We should offer our prayers for them asking for their safety and
expressing our thanksgiving.
I invite you to contact us, if you are interested in this AOS work.
Will you come to join us for Ship Visits as a volunteer?
2006 July 9
Catholic Commission of Japan for Migrants, Refugees and People on
the Move
Chair Person Tani Daiji (Bishop of Saitama Diocese)
UN INVESTIGATOR SAYS DISCRIMINATION IN JAPAN 'MUST BE FOUGHT'
UCAN/Catholic Weekly, May 28
 The United Nations Human Right Councils' Special Rapporteur,
Doudou Diene, arrived in Japan on May 13 for a five-day visit. During
his stay Diene met with representatives of the government and non-governmental
organizations, and made his first fact-finding visit to Okinawa.
Commenting on his visit, Diene said, "Very few governments recognize
discrimination. My work is to uncover what's being hidden. I
am critical, but cooperative with the government. It is a process of
dialogue and tension."
Diene came to Japan in July of last year as a UN Special Rapporteur
to investigate contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance. He submitted his report to the
UN Commission on Human Rights (replaced by the Human Rights Council
in May 2006) last January.
In response to this report 77 Japanese organizations, including the
Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace, issued a joint communiqué which
recognized that "racial discrimination and xenophobia do exist
in Japan." This communiqué heightened solidarity among
the organizations signing it.
Regarding the report, Diene commented, "All countries are facing
challenges of racism and discrimination, but each has particular problems.
Japan is facing it with particular historical background, such as discrimination
against burakumin (outcast communities) and Ainu."
Among the topics the report addressed from a historical and legal perspective
were history textbooks, political representation of minorities and
US bases in Okinawa.
Commenting on his mission, Diene said the work of a Special Rapporteur
was "a tough job." He does not receive any financial assistance
from the government or the UN, and personally visited the areas concerned
to conduct his investigation.
"I come from Senegal. It is characterized by its openness. At university
I studied international relations, philosophy and history and I got
a strong desire to work for the world," he said.
Diene became a diplomat and later joined UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization). He worked in inter-cultural
and inter-religious dialogue. He has visited Japan many times since
1979.
"Japanese culture is not a monoculture," he said. "Minorities
must be recognized. Fighting discrimination is not to protect individual
interests, but has to support multi-culturalism in Japan."
"Discrimination is to be fought. We have to recognize its existence
and its long history," he added.
Apart from a press conference, the only press interview Diene gave
was with the Catholic Weekly because he said he wished to communicate
with its readers.
BISHOP MATSUNAGA OF FUKUOKA DIES DAYS BEFORE HIS JUBILEE CELEBRATION
UCAN/Catholic Weekly, June 11
Bishop Hisajiro Matsunaga, who led the Fukuoka diocese for
15 years, died of a cerebral hemorrhage early in the morning
of June 2 at his
residence in Fukuoka. He was 76 years old.
Father Soichi Kawakami, who will serve as administrator of the southern
diocese until the appointment of a new bishop, told the Catholic weekly
in a telephone interview: "It was a shock. A day of joy has turned
into a day of sorrow."
The priest was referring to celebrations planned for June 4 to celebrate
what would have been the 50th anniversary of the bishop's ordination
to the priesthood. Cards that had been printed to commemorate the ordination
were distributed at the bishop's wake that evening.
Father Kawakami noted that just a few days before his death, the bishop
had visited his parents' graves in his hometown of Hirodo in Nagasaki
prefecture.
According to Father Kawakami, Bishop Matsunaga had recently joked, "I
won't be around much longer." The priest said his reply was, "Don't
go while you're still in office."
The bishop's June 5 funeral was celebrated by Archbishop Mitsuaki
Takami of Nagasaki, along with most of Japan's bishops, 150 priests
and more than 1,000 Religious and lay people.
At Bishop Matsunaga's wake and funeral, speakers referred to
his warm sincerity, but many also spoke of his caustic tongue, for
which he was noted.
The bishop was born March 7, 1930, and was ordained in Rome in 1956
for Nagasaki diocese. In Rome he studied at Pontifical Urban University
before earning a doctorate in canon law at Pontifical Lateran University
and a doctorate in theology at Pontifical University of St. Thomas
Aquinas. After his return to Nagasaki, he served in various positions
in the archdiocese.
In 1977, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Nagasaki, a position
he held until his appointment in late 1990 to succeed retiring Bishop
Saburo Hirata as head of the Fukuoka diocese. He was installed as bishop
of Fukuoka on Jan. 15, 1991.
When Bishop Matsunaga turned 75 last year, he submitted his request
for resignation to the Vatican, in accord with canon law, but as of
the time of his death, the request had not been accepted.
Fukuoka is 875 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The diocese comprises
the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Saga. According to the diocesan
report for 2005, it had 31,287 registered Catholics, with an estimated
5,000 unregistered foreign Catholics also in the diocese.
JAPANESE STUDENTS VISIT CAMBODIA ON STUDY TOUR
Catholic Weekly, May 14
Four young Japanese joined a field trip to Cambodia March 27-April
2 organized for junior high and senior high school students by the
Japan Lay Missionary Movement (JLMM).
The students on the Cambodia Study Tour 2006 learned the history of
civil wars and the current situation of health education in Cambodia.
Before going to Cambodia, the students had the idea that it was simply
a poor country with a lot of land mines.
After meeting Cambodian people, however, one of the students, Ayaka
Miyashita, a 10th grader and a member of Yukinoshita Catholic Church
in Kamakura, commented, "I thought the people have a warm relationship
with each other."
Shion Yamashita, a seventh grader and a member of Yuigahama Catholic
Church in Kamakura, said she felt "Everyone is doing their very
best to live."
The Japanese students also met local high school students in order
to get to know each other. Cambodian students performed traditional
dances while the Japanese demonstrated calligraphy and other Japanese
traditions.
JLMM plans to continue organizing tours for junior and senior high
school students. Information is available by telephone at 03-5414-5222.
VIETNAMESE BISHOP IN TOKYO TALKS OF PIGS AND HERBS AS MEANS TO HELP POOR
Catholic Weekly, May 14
 In an effort to promote self-reliance among poor people, the diocese
of Phan Thiet in southern Vietnam breeds pigs and generates electricity
from the methane gas emitted by their manure. It also manages a medicinal
herb garden that produces inexpensive medicines.
Bishop Nguyên Thanh Hoan (66) said during an interview with the
Catholic Weekly that he is urging people "not only to be concerned
about their faith, but to become involved in social activities."
The bishop visited Japan in April and spoke at the Shinsei-kaikan in
Tokyo where he also had discussions with members of volunteer groups
supporting his work.
"The first thing we are trying to do is eliminate poverty," said
the bishop, who soon after being ordained a priest, built a care facility
for 345 children who had lost parents in the Vietnam War.
Pig-raising to establish the financial independence of religious houses
proceeded well and they established a system of loaning pigs to households.
Within the four years by which they were to return the pigs, families
were able to become self-supporting.
"Cash income increased and the mothers gained more influence," according
to Bishop Hoan. "When men are the wage earners they are not inclined
to listen to the opinions of their wives."
As an alternative to expensive medical treatment, the diocese began
the cultivation of tropical herbs used in traditional Vietnamese medicine.
Along with sending 10 people to study tropical medicine at university
each year, the project manages tropical herb gardens and clinics.
"I was reared in a poor family. At the seminary I studied sociology,
and when I became a priest I decided to concentrate seriously on social
activities," said Bishop Hoan, who is also chairman of the Council
for Social Welfare of the Vietnamese bishops' conference.
When Father Isamu Ando, S.J. (71), the representative of Japan-Vietnam,
an NGO that has been assisting Vietnam since 1990, said that when he
first met Bishop Hoan, he felt he was "a person who truly became
involved with people and wanted to see what he could do to help poor
people. He thought that even with a little effort things could be done."
HINT (Humane International Network), an NGO which developed out of
Epopee, a bar opened by Catholic priest Father Georges Neyrand, has
also been supporting the Phan Tiet diocesan social works since 1996.
As the number of unemployed people in Vietnam continues to rise, Bishop
Hoan says he hopes that "although what we can do is severly limited,
our assistance reaches many more people."
The total population of Phan Tiet diocese is about one million, of
whom 158,000 are Catholic.
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