Japan Catholic News
January 2008
"Nippon
Notes" by William Grimm
WE NEED REAL JOURNALISM IN THE CHURCH
UCA News
TOKYO (UCAN) -- Waseda
University in Tokyo plans
to open Japan's first
graduate school of journalism
in April.
The school's program
will be patterned largely
upon that of Columbia
University's Graduate
School of Journalism
in New York and similar
programs in other schools
overseas.
Two reports about the
opening highlight the
need for such a program
and prompt thoughts about
the state of journalism
in the Catholic Church
today.
(Journalistic ethics
require that I disclose
I am an alumnus of the
Columbia "J-school," so
you might realize some
of the biases I bring
to this column.)
The Japan Times, an English-language
daily that generally
follows internationally
recognized professional
standards, carried a
long article about Waseda's
plans and included the
voices of journalists
who are not connected
with the program. The
article presented various
reasons why a professional
journalism school is
needed in Japan. One
of the major problems
with the media in Japan
is a tendency to defer
to political and business
leaders, making newspapers
and other media little
more than mouthpieces
for vested interests
and the powerful.
Kyodo, the Japanese news
agency, also reported
the plan, in an article
about one-quarter the
length of the Times report.
The article only quoted
the director of the new
program and did not touch
upon the problems that
Times interviewees mentioned.
In other words, the report
was an example of the
sort of journalism the
new school is meant to
counter.
And what of journalism
in the Catholic Church?
Some news sources such
as the independent UCA
News and Catholic News
Service (owned by the
United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops but
operating with editorial
independence) hold to
professional standards
of timeliness, attribution,
accuracy, balance and
verification. There are
also news "retailers" (newspapers,
blogs, etc.) that hold
themselves to the same
standards.
However, there has been
a proliferation of Catholic "news
sources" that do
not follow those examples.
Bias, distortion, refusal
to cover the "bad
news," lack of balance,
deference to officials
and failure to verify
are common.
Catholic media outlets
with editorial freedom
to accurately present
the face of the Church
to its audience rather
than being mouthpieces
for "Church authorities" --
Religious superiors,
pastors, bishops, curial
officials and popes --
are few. One diocesan
newspaper I saw had 11
pictures of the bishop
on its first nine pages.
It was clearly not a
paper that intended to
present the life of the
Church in all its variety.
The chief news that Catholic
media must convey is
the life of the men and
women who are the main
body of the Church, the
laity. Their story is
the story of the Church
in the world today, and
is too seldom the focus
of Church journalism.
Archbishop John Foley
(another Columbia J-school
graduate) was recently
moved from being head
of the Pontifical Council
for Social Communications
to a new job, Pro-Grand
Master of the Equestrian
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem. Though
the new position comes
with the cardinal's red
hat that he did not receive
before, it is hard to
not see this as a demotion,
and therefore a repudiation
of the journalistic standards
he advocated for the
Church during his 23
years in office.
Why does it matter if
the Church does not have
a media voice like that
which should prevail
in the secular world?
One reason is that if
the Church is incapable
or unwilling to report
on its life and activities
with transparency, others
will step in. However,
leaving honest reporting
of the Church to outside
media leaves us open
to misunderstanding and
even sensationalism.
It is hard to refute
charges of "cover-up" when,
in fact, Catholic journalism
either consciously or
inadvertently fails to
present a full picture
of the Church, "warts
and all."
We need a trustworthy
professional Catholic
journalism in order to
present the true face
of the Church to the
world and each other.
Being trustworthy means
having a commitment to
the truth rather than
to looking good. If Church
media are seen as PR
rather than journalism,
others will not believe
us when we actually have
good news -- as well
as the Good News -- to
convey, nor will they
look to us for information
and insight.
Perhaps the Church needs
for one of the pontifical
universities in Rome
to announce that it is
introducing a graduate
school of journalism
just like Waseda's, and
for the same reasons.
Maryknoll Father William Grimm is the 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
SPEAKER
STRESSES LINKS BETWEEN WAR
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Catholic
Weekly, January 20, 2008
Global warming is causing
a breakdown in the balance
of nature in the environment,
and stopping global warming
is emerging as one of
the world's most urgent
tasks. Following up on
its presentation at the
Global Issues Convention
in July 2007, the Japan
Catholic Council for
Justice and Peace, lead
by Bishop Goro Matsuura,
sponsored a lecture entitled "Studying
Global Warming: Energy
and Counter-Measures" Dec.
18 at the Catholic Kaikan
in Tokyo.
Yu Tanaka, 50, chairman
of the board of Mirai
Bank, director at the
Japan International Volunteer
Center and longtime environmental
advocate urged participants
to think globally and
act locally to ease the
burden on the planet.
Tanaka, author of Can
We Avoid the Global Warming-Armageddon
Scenario? offered opposition
to war and industrial
effort as the keys to
stopping global warming.
"Conflict areas in the
world can be classified
into 5 categories. One:
oil fields. Two: natural
gas fields. Three: oil
and natural gas pipeline
regions. Four: places
with abundant water.
Five: areas with valuable
mineral deposits. Ethnic
conflict and religious
war are excuses later
attached. The real reasons
are energy and resource
interests," he said.
Developing countries
count among their problems
of poverty the increased
war budgets of developed
countries intent on gaining
more oil interests. Their
big military maneuvers
involve massive emissions
of carbon dioxide.
"If we want a society
free of terror and war,
we have to change to
natural energies, like
wind and solar power.
Few fossil fuel deposits
remain, so it's an obvious
choice. But, if we don't
oppose war while working
against global warming,
it's meaningless," Tanaka
said.
Referring to Japan, he
said, "Only 13 percent
of Japan's carbon emissions
come from homes. Half
of all emissions come
from 167 (large-scale)
factories. At peak electrical
consumption, homes use
nine percent, while 91
percent is industrial
consumption. Even if
all the homes in Japan
do their best, nothing
will come of it unless
we have corporate cooperation."
Tanaka said that curbing
electrical consumption
at its peak is vital,
and in order to do that,
the commercial and industrial
electrical power pricing
system must be changed.
Even so, at-home effort
is also important. According
to Tanaka, the largest
emitters of carbon dioxide
in the home are electrical
appliances and cars.
Two-thirds of home carbon
production is due to
air conditioning, refrigeration,
illumination and television.
Replacing current appliances
with energy-saving ones
is a recipe for success.
The cost of replacing
a refrigerator can be
offset in five years
by the savings on the
electricity bill.
Using surge protectors
with power shut-off switches
for AV (stereos, TVs
and video players) and
IT (computers and communication
devices) is a good way
to cut the rest of homes'
nine percent energy consumption,
energy consumed as stand-by
power (power that continuously
flows into an appliance
so that it can be turned
on at any time, with
a remote, for example).
Beyond that, Tanaka also
recommended changing
light bulbs from incandescent
to fluorescent or LED
(with the same brightness),
using renewable energy
and buying naturally
grown food.
"Maintaining current lifestyles
while conserving energy,
we can successfully expand
our means of combating
global warming."
Tanaka, as chairman of
the board at the non-government,
non-profit public action
Mirai Bank offers low-interest
financing to citizens
who want to support the
enterprise of being kind
to the earth.
He took questions from
the audience about the
cost of installing solar
power at a church, and
the services offered
at Mirai Bank.
'GOSPEL
IN BUNRAKU' PRESENTS LIFE
OF JESUS THROUGH TRADITIONAL
PUPPET THEATER
Catholic
Weekly, December 23,
2007
"The Gospel in Bunraku," a
puppet play about Jesus
created some 15 years
ago by Toyotake Hanafusa-dayu,
a 60-year-old Christian
from Osaka, works as
an introduction to Christianity
for bunraku fans and
to bunraku for Christians.
Bunraku, traditional
Japanese puppet theater,
is a composite art of
narration, shamisen (a
three-stringed musical
instrument) and puppets
manipulated by three
puppeteers.
As chief narrator, Hanafusa-dayu
opens performances with
the Scripture verse, "God
so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten
Son" in the gidayu
intonation, a narrative
method designed by Gidayu
Takemoto in the late
17th century. Then shamisen
music and the puppets'
actions begin. He uses
the voice pattern of
a samurai's hara-kiri
ritual to express the
groans of Jesus on the
Cross.
Hanafusa-dayu's path
to Christianity began
when he was a high school
student heading to the
bathhouse with some friends.
Along the way, he was
accosted by a junior-high-school
classmate who had been
leader of a gang.
"He grabbed me and asked
if I knew the Christian
Trinity. Recalling Sunday
school lessons I had
as a kid, I managed an
answer. 'You have an
excellent memory,' he
said, and told me to
come to his church the
following Sunday. That's
how I came to know that
he was a Christian. At
the church he ordered
me to substitute as one
of the three wise men
for a Christmas play,
as its actor had been
taken ill. Thus I began
to go to church."
Hanafusa-dayu was baptized
when he was 23 years
old. Afterwards, however,
he kept company with
various friends, both
good and bad. Drinking,
gambling, women, were,
he confessed, an evil
trinity. He fell in an
abyss of despair, and
ended up infected with
hepatitis C in 1999.
This marked a turning
point. Looking back his
life he said to himself, "What
kind of life is this
for you! You are a Christian,
aren't you? Why not ask
the pastor and fellow
Christians to pray for
you?"
At a prayer meeting he
felt his liver get warmer. "This
may sound unbelievable," he
said. "I believed
that I was healed."
The disease was gone.
Around the same time,
three friends died from
the same disease.
"I was the only one saved," he
said. "I felt obliged
to return something to
God."
As a token of thanksgiving
he tried a bunraku narration
of the Nativity at his
church's Christmas gathering.
Word of his activity
spread widely, and he
expanded the scope to
include the Last Supper,
the Passion and the Resurrection.
Thus the present programs
were developed.
Two performances last
Oct. 16 at the Kita-Ichijo
Church, the Sapporo Cathedral,
gathered an audience
of 460, including Catholics,
Protestants and the general
public.
"The narration enhanced
imagination," said
Yumiko Ozeki, chairperson
of the performance's
organizing group. "It
looked as if a life-giving
spirit were breathed
into the puppets. Introductory
explanations about bunraku
and a testimony of the
faith by Hanafusa-dayu
were given prior to the
performance. As many
were new to either church
or bunraku they welcomed
the explanation and the
exhortation."
She continued, "Having
listened to Hanafusa-dayu
speaking about his recovery
from hepatitis and the
death of his five-year-old
daughter, audiences seemed
moved, and said that
the faith had saved him
both in bad times and
in good ones."
Ozeki was particularly
pleased that bunraku
in the cathedral had
been achieved and they
could organize an opportunity
for people from various
religions to praise God
together.
A dream of Hanafus-dayu
is to take the "The
Gospel in Bunraku" overseas
in order to express gratitude
to the people who brought
Christianity to Japan.
JAPANESE
LAY MISSIONERS MEET
IN THAILAND TO REFLECT
ON MISSION
Catholic
Weekly, December 2,
2007
The Japan Lay Missionary
Movement (JLMM), which
in 2007 celebrated the
25th anniversary of its
founding, held a general
assembly at the Redemptorist
Pattaya Center in Pattaya,
Thailand, Nov. 5-8. Seven
missioners currently
working in Thailand,
Cambodia and East Timor
plus the staff of the
JLMM headquarters in
Tokyo attended, a total
of 13. This was the first
such assembly since a
gathering on Samui Island
in Thailand in 2001.
The assembly reflected
on JLMM's original vision
of mission and lay missioners,
looking at two questions: "What
is it that God has called
us to do?" and "Where
have we been called to
go?"
Participants hoped to
energize their work in
mission by sharing with
one another the experience
of their faith and their
activities and then communicating
their experience and
understanding of mission
to future lay missioners
and to Japanese society.
At the opening Mass Quebec
Foreign Mission Society
Fr. Raymond Desrochers,
priest-moderator of JLMM,
spoke about two important
elements in mission:
working hard while placing
that work in the hands
of God.
Current activity reports
occupied the second day
of the gathering.
The first report was
by Taro Sugimura, who
has worked in Cambodia
since 1998. He became
involved in Children's
Home, located in a garbage
dump in the suburbs of
Phnom Penh, the capital,
where he set up and ran
a class for young children.
After the "Garbage
Mountain" was shut
down, he started a "portable
stall project" last
September to provide
kiosks to the people
who could no longer work
at collecting garbage.
They use these stalls
to sell candy and sweets.
In East Timor, Kuniko
Sato, who works as a
primary health care coordinator
providing preventive
care and hygiene education,
spoke about how she struggles
with the conflict between
the JLMM mission of "Living
Together (with the people)" and
the administration and
operation of projects.
Mankiko Kasayama, who
works in northern Thailand,
said she learned that
drawing out the good
in people is true development
and for this, living
with the people is the
only way.
In a discussion about
the operation and structure
of JLMM, Shinya Takahashi,
who works in Cambodia,
raised the question of
whether the preparatory
training course given
before being sent to
mission should be open
to anyone who wishes
to take it. He himself
experienced it as a wonderful
grace. The assembly made
a decision to look into
the possibility.
Issei Sakano, a former
lay missioner now living
in Cambodia, said, "It
is important to make
special efforts to tell
the Japanese Church about
the experience of a Christian
endeavoring to live with
the people and what a
blessing it is."
A proposal was made that
when lay missioners return
to Japan they should
consider it a new role
for them to communicate
to the Japanese Church
the situation of the
Church and Catholics
in the country in which
they worked.
Time was given to the
participants to reflect
on the content of the
meeting, after which
they shared personal
reflections. One participant
commented, "I am
called to return to an
awareness of what is
at the core of a human
being, life. It is an
awareness given me by
the God who would send
such an immature person
as me to this place.
JLMM is called to discover
God in the midst of people
who have been made weak
and poor, and then, as
an instrument of God,
to become a bridge that
joins the people of Japan
with that God."
During the closing Mass
participants laid hands
on each other, sending
each other back to mission
with a spirit of thankfulness
and renewed dedication.
The home page of JLMM
is http://jlmm.net/.
CATHOLIC NURSING SCHOOL USES FIELD WORK TO TEACH INTERNATIONAL NURSING AND DISASTER RELIEF
Catholic Weekly, December 16, 2007
Nearly 170 students are
preparing for careers
as nurses, teachers for
the handicapped or midwives
at Seibo College of Nursing
in Tokyo. The school
is unique in that it
offers an elective course
called International
Nursing that teaches
how nursing is done in
developing countries,
and every fall, many
students go abroad for
about a month for international
experiential training.
This year, all the fourth-year
students in the International
Nursing class, lead by
two teachers, traveled
to health centers and
malnourished children's
centers in Bangui, capital
of the Central African
Republic, Oct. 17- Nov.
20.
There the students found
a deeper understanding
of the differences between
developed and developing
countries, learned about
true international cooperation,
and reflected upon what
it means to be a nurse.
The 70 students who worked
in the Central African
Republic chose the International
Nursing course because
they were interested
in working with youth
international assistance
groups and wanted to
help in disaster areas.
On this trip, the students
helped at food centers,
AIDS patient examinations,
home visitations, independence
classes (such as free
classes in dressmaking),
HIV awareness classes,
and meetings that pushed
for school attendance
for children who had
lost their parents to
AIDS. Students also did
field research on various
themes for their graduation
projects.
Yukie Akiyama, 22, made
house calls while studying
the relationship between
the Central African environment
and region's high tuberculosis
infection rate.
"There may only be two
50-cubic-centimeter windows
in a six-by-eight-meter
mud house, and with no
ceiling to stop hot air
from pouring straight
in the ventilation is
terrible, making it easy
for germs to multiply.
Up to seven people may
be sharing such a house."
As Seibo students had
already gone to Madagascar
and Ethiopia in previous
years, when Professor
Mizuko Tokunaga was appointed
to Seibo University's
nursing department last
April, she started the
mission to Central Africa.
As a representative of
the non-governmental
organization Friends
of Africa, which has
a base in the Central
African Republic, it
was a natural direction
for her to lead the students.
"I see the conditions
of medical treatment
in developing countries,
and I don't want to simply
say, 'too bad for them.'
I want to show more people
the bigger picture so
that they can learn more
things, and revitalize
this work," she
explained.
The students developed
a sense of international
cooperation and an understanding
of the importance of
getting fundamental knowledge
and techniques as well
as practical experience.
In spite of international
aid, there are many people
who do not get what they
need, and many people
outside of the situation
do not realize the how
big the problem is. Participants
in the Seibo program
find it a chance to reconsider
one's life and habits,
conserving electricity
and water, a message
calling people to do
what they can to the
best of their ability
to make real changes
in their individual daily
lives.
"This was my first time
meeting people who had
HIV," said Risa
Takeuchi, 21. "I
gathered up my courage
and now it's easier for
me to say that it's wrong
to discriminate against
people who have HIV.
Japan doesn't understand
the problem. There are
so many people who are
HIV-positive. I think
it's important that we
change the status quo
of societies like this."
Azusa Yamaguchi, 22,
who wants to become a
disaster-area nurse,
said, "I was surprised
when I first saw the
malnourished children.
When I think of people
in Africa who may not
live to see tomorrow,
I realize how important
each day is. If this
is how Africa is going
to be, I think, 'What
should I do?' and start
reexamining my own life."
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