Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Our hearts our filled with consolation. We the Bishops of Japan had an audience with the Holy Father, a most humble person of great kindness and a great listener. In his presence we felt a deep sense of peace”: these sentiments were expressed by Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada of Tokyo, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan in an interview with Fides News Service in Rome. In fact the Japanese Bishop are in Rome for their five yearly ad limina visit. “We spoke to the Pope about the situation in the Church in Japan and the difficulties we encounter”, the Archbishop said. “The Holy Father encouraged us and gave us his blessing. We have had a most fruitful visit to the Holy See, meeting members of the various Vatican congregations and councils”. Here is the interview.
Archbishop Okada please tells us about the Japanese Catholic community?
We are a small flock. We enjoy full freedom of worship and evangelisation. After Saint Francis Xavier brought the Gospel to Japan in the 16th century, the local Church grew rapidly. There followed dark centuries of persecution and the Church was forced to live 'underground'. Today we walk with renewed faith and hope, we are a small community and we grow slowly. Japanese Christians amount to about 1% of the population of 127 million and Catholics are 0.4%. Altogether, the priests, religious and lay faithful are about 452,000 (2006). In 2006 some 7,193 were registered, of these 3.692 were adults and 3,501 children, and we have more than 5,400 adult catechumens preparing for baptism.
In Japan, in general, when people frequent a certain temple for some time they consider themselves members of that religion. Many people ask to be Christians, but hesitate when the realise it requires a long and demanding path of catechumenate. This is not easy for Japanese citizens to understand. Then there is resistance from ancient cultural traditions and modern life, so pressed by work. This is why although many Japanese admire Christianity they do not ask for baptism. However we are proud to say we have 361 missionaries ad gentes, priests, religious and lay people in many different parts of the world to carry the Good News.
What are your main pastoral urgencies?
The principal challenge for pastoral care is the internationalisation of Japan's Catholic community. Japan has a regular flow of immigrants from the Philippines, Korea, South America, Peru especially, Chinese and many are Catholics. In fact we have a foreign Catholic community of about 565,000, larger than Japanese born Catholics. Some immigrants who intended only to stay a short time, eventually settle here and have children who grow up and stay in this country. These Catholics from other countries share their strong Catholic traditions and they are a channel of evangelisation. They represent hope for our local Church also because they have numerous children. Moreover many Catholic immigrant women marry Japanese husband, they are missionaries in the family and they bring up the children in the Catholic faith. Immigration is an important phenomenon in Japanese society, it is a challenge and an opportunity for evangelisation.
How committed is the Japanese Catholic Church to formation?
Formation is another important field. Religious formation for children is most important to enable them to become active and committed members of the Church. The formation of priests and lay people is determinant. In the last century, after World War II, many missionaries came here from China, they were escaping from communism and they re-evangelised Japan. But this created a sort of 'dependence on missionaries'. Today our lay people need to take an active part in pastoral work. Another priority is formation for the family, the basic nucleus of society. We must help the family live the faith, hence the need for good preparation for marriage. In Japan families often live in difficult situations, many are separated and family values are being lost. It is urgent to form families to have authentic Christian families.
Please tell us about the process inculturation the faith?
We walk this path every day. We must lead the people to accept the truth with respect for the local culture, as Pope's Paul VI said in his “Evangeli Nuntiandi”. We must evangelise the heart of the Japanese mentality and culture. The centre of society is the Home of the Emperor, the Emperor is the Father of all Japanese citizens. The Empress was educated at a Catholic school and she studied at the Sacred Heart University in Tokyo. This is a good sign for us and it increases the esteem which the people have for the Catholic Church. However sometimes we find it difficult to explain to catechumens in the eastern mentality, abstract categories such as 'substance' or 'person', very difficult for our culture to assimilate. However will live in harmony with believers of other principal religions in Japan, Shintoism and Buddhism.
How was the news of the celebration of the Japanese martyrs in 2008 received?
With great joy. We are happy for the celebration of the 188 martyrs killed in the 17th century which will take place in Nagasaki in November 2008. We are grateful to the Holy See for this recognition of Japanese Catholics who died for the faith. We are certain this will be an opportunity for evangelisation.
What is your position with regard to the proposed Constitutional reforms in Japan?
As we said clearly in our statement “Freedom of faith and separation of government and religion ” (see Fides 23/5/2007), the Catholic Church in Japan defends article 20 of the Constitution which states the separation of religion and state, respect for human rights, freedom of belief for all citizens, outlining the functions of the state and the space for the religious communities, with reciprocal respect. We also ask that article 9, which states absolute rejection of war, should be retained. We desire a constitution of peace which does not allow the country to take part in military missions in the world. After the profound suffering in World War II, Japan has lived an era of peace and not one citizen has died because of war. We wish this to continue.
What is the role of the Japanese Church in the context of the other Asian Catholic communities?
In the Asian context, as the Catholic Church in Japan we strive to learn from Korea which is flourishing and dynamic Catholic community. We also intend to be close to China, a realty which continues to grow. It is our duty to be a Sister Church to the Church in China and to work with all the Churches to evangelise our continent.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides righe 67 parole 675 17/12/2007)
