Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tokyo (Agenzia Fides) – In honor of the Year for Priests, the Diocese of Tokyo is dedicating the First Sunday of every month to pray a special prayer for priests and their parish mission. The initiative, Fides was told by local Church sources, is meant to spread awareness among the faithful in their role of “caring” for their priests, as well as making the Year for Priests “a fruitful occasion of evangelization, spreading information on the life and spirituality of Saint John Vianney, and making the mission and activities of the Church in Japan known, so as to bring Christ's love to all those who still do not know Him and are suffering or in solitude.”
In addition, on the First Sunday of the month, in Tokyo a special Mass is said and in the spirit of the Cure of Ars, who spent long hours in the confessional, the faithful are invited to rediscover the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
“Reconciling ourselves with the Lord and receiving Holy Communion are needed for becoming good evangelizers in our own daily life,” said Archbishop Takeo Okada of Tokyo.
The Diocese is also planning to have an altar dedicated to Saint John Vianney. The altar is in a church in Koenji, which also conserves a relic of the Saint's clothing. Faithful and pilgrims from all over the country continually visit the Church to stop and pray before the altar. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 28/09/2009)
