Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tokyo (Agenzia Fides) - According to the Japanese Missionaries Association the Church in Japan has 361 missionaries ad gentes, priests, religious and lay persons who are helping to spread the Good News in many parts of the world.
More in detail the 361 missionaries include, 57 priests and brothers, 292 sisters, 12 lay missionaries and are distributed as follows, 40 in African countries; 35 in north America and 88 in south America; 125 in Asian countries, 64 in Europe, 9 in Oceania.
These figures show the missionary vitality of Japan’s small Catholic community, 450,000 out of a population of 127 million. Japan received the Word of the Gospel from missionaries and today the Church in Japan is missionary herself playing an active part in the mission to evangelise.
Among the different missionary experiences we mention that of two priests Fr. Yasuharu Kitajima and Fr. Amansu Raka, in the Misiones province of Argentina, an area known for serious social problems and crime including drug trafficking.
The Japanese Movement of Lay Missionaries works in the field of education and healthcare particularly with children. There are Japanese lay missionaries involved in social programmes and pastoral assistance in the village of Kompong Luong in Cambodia where most of the people are Catholic refugees from Vietnam. There are Japanese lay missionaries working in Russia, East Timor and Palau, in places and contexts where besides announcing the Gospel there is also need to promote human development. (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2006 righe 25 parole 252)
