ASIA/JAPAN - Catholic schools and universities combine quality education and spiritual care

Tokyo (Agenzia Fides) - At Catholic universities besides coming into contact with universal knowledge, the sciences, and various scientific and historical disciplines, students also have the opportunity to read the Bible and learn about Christian values. They can also converse with priests and attend religious services. Elizabeth College in Hiroshima and Sacred Heart University in Tokyo are two examples of how a university can combine scientific and cultural formation with religious and spiritual formation.
Elizabeth College run by the Jesuits is very popular with young people, Catholics and non, and after a few months at the College to it is not uncommon for non Christian students to ask to know more about the Catholic Church and start a course in preparation for Baptism. Both Elizabeth College and Sacred Heart College put the person at the centre of attention in view of harmonious human and spiritual growth and development of a mature and responsible personality.
The local Church in Japan is aware that Catholic schools and universities, attended by a total 230,000 students including many non Catholics, are an excellent field for evangelisation. The president of the Japanese Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education Archbishop Ikenaga Jun archbishop of Osaka, underlines that teaching staff in Catholic institutes of education view their work as a service to offer each student the opportunity for human, cultural and professional growth and to develop their talents. Catholic education gives priority to the soul in relations between teacher and student.
In Japan the Church runs 555 kindergartens with 77,000 children; 56 primary schools with 23,000 pupils; 171 secondary schools with 72,000 pupils; 20,000 students at high school and 40,000 university students. Catholics in Japan are one million, 450,000 Japanese born and 565,000 Catholics from other countries. (Agenzia Fides 30/5/2006 righe 27 parole 269)