Japan Catholic News
January 2009
NOV.24 BEATIFICATION IN PHOTOS
Catholic Weekly, November 30, 2008
The Nov. 24 beatification of Peter Kibe and 187 other Japanese martyrs
took
place in Nagasaki's Big N Stadium with some 30,000 in attendance.
PHOTO I
Young men and women sing "Akashibito"(witnesses), a hymn composed
by Takashi
Ariyasu, a member of the group, to inspire youth with the example
of the
martyrs.
PHOTO II
After Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins (left), prefect of the Congregation
for
the Causes of Saints and representative of Pope Benedict XVI, promulgated
the decree of beatification, Tokyo Archbishop Takeo Okada, president
of the
Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, offered his thanks.
PHOTO III
The sun broke through cold, rainy skies when the ceremony began.
PHOTO IV
Some 500 concelebrating priests process toward the alter.
PHOTO V
Pilgrims from Japan and abroad took part in the ceremony
PHOTO VI
Pilgrims on their way to the baseball stadium for the beatification.
PHOTO VII
Bishop Osamu Mizobe of Takamatsu speaks to pilgrims at the Urakami
Cathedral
in Nagasaki.
PHOTO VIII
Pilgrims at a prayer service at the Shiroyama Catholic Church.
PHOTO IX
Pilgrims pray at The Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan Church.
WIDESPREAD LAYOFFS IN SAITAMA DIOCESE DRAW CHURCH RESPONSE
Catholic Weekly, January 18, 2009
 Starting late last year, the effects of the recession on factories
in the northern Kanto region has meant job losses for many Japanese
and foreigners.
Recognizing the urgency of this situation, in mid-December Saitama
Bishop Daiji Tani called upon priests of his diocese to raise the issue
with their parishioners, saying, "Is there nothing we can do as
a Church for our brothers and sisters who have lost their jobs? Please
discuss it."
The diocesen chancery office also got involved, ascertaining the status
of each parish and found that in Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki where there
are many small parishes with a large number of non-native parishioners
people have reached out to blue-collar workers, collecting food, and
in some parishes even money.
In Saitama, Fukaya parish usually draws at least 30 Peruvians, 15 Japanese,
and five Filipinos for Sunday Mass. At the end of November, the first
job losses hit, and by early December, at least 10 people were out
of a job.
Serving one parish that doesn't have a full-time pastor, Sr. Anna Arblardo
M.I.C. called on parishioners to deliver food to needy homes once a
week.
Parish council president Hiroichi Nakamura explained, "None of
them are able to draw on pensions, so we are bringing them food and
some daily necessities. We are being proactive not only for Japanese,
but also Peruvians. And there are many Filipinos, too."
The parish has twice received donations from the aid group Second Harvest
Japan.
Rumors of foreigners living under bridges have become common, so Sr.
Arblardo and parishioner Jaime Honda have made the rounds of five bridges
from Saitama to Gunma three times. Fortunately, the rumors have proved
to be untrue. Honda himself works in an electronic components factory,
and has endured a reduction in his work week, from five days to four.
Enrique Nakamura worked in an automotive plant, but lost his job on
Dec. 15. One hundred Japanese also lost their jobs.
"My wife is working, so I'm OK for right now. I want to find another
job while I'm covered by my three-month unemployment insurance," Nakamura
said.
Another Peruvian said that there is no one employed among her household
of five.
"We are looking for jobs while covered by my adopted son-in-law's
unemployment insurance. The sisters said, 'You have quite a bit of
time, so this is your chance to study Japanese,' so I'm about to start
in a Japanese class."
Sr. Arblardo encouraged job seekers, saying, "I know Peruvians
going all around searching. Even though the hourly wage is less, they're
trying. Especially in troubled times, creative power emerges. So I
want you to keep on fighting to the very end. Don't give up."
"It looks just like Mary and Joseph, searching for a place to
stay," she added. "You are told here there is nothing,
and there's nothing over there, so you return to a simple place. With
that in mind, we become a real Church. While we are troubled individually,
we give birth to solidarity."
Honda said there is some good to be found in the situation. "The
good thing about a time like this is that we can learn to keep the
faith, make our pleas to God, and hold onto hope."
Nakamura said, "Fukaya Church is opening up, helping not only
parishioners, but all who come. If one person is suffering, it's an
important issue for us all."
RECESSION HITS BRAZILIANS, PARISH PROVIDES EMERGENCY AID
Catholic Weekly, December 21, 2008
Toyohashi Church in the Nagoya diocese has about 500 Brazilian immigrant
members, while Japanese parishioners number about 100. Those Brazilians
are mostly temporary workers at automobile plants in the area.
Due to the recent global financial crisis and economic recession companies
are laying off many Brazilians, and others have received advance notice
that their contracts will not be renewed.
A supplication was expressed in the Prayer of the Faithful at the Dec.7
Portuguese Mass, "Please help the dismissed fellow Brazilians.
May their lives stay afloat."
In his homily, Oblates of Mary Immaculate Fr. Antonio Genivaldo Oliveira
encouraged Brazilians to come to him with anything they want to share
with the church. Parishioners began to bring dried or canned foods.
Tomonari Inoue, 49, coordinator with the Brazilian parishioners, and
other Japanese church members conducted a survey of 30 unemployed Brazilians
about jobs and insurance.
The Inoue group was informed that homeless Brazilians were spotted
in a park nearby. They acted on it and sheltered one of them in the
church. Further, a non-Catholic Brazilian woman with a five-month-old
infant came and asked to that someone take charge of her baby.
The group held an emergency meeting Dec.13 where they worked out a
package of measures in three categories: food, consultations and housing.
They also decided to keep records of the aid granted to be sure of
keeping appropriate supports for individuals. For the food service
they determined to utilize the church's emergency provisions.
The consultation part of the service provides information and guidance
as to where to go for official assistance and, if necessary, help with
the application. Subsidies for transportation to the office was also
set up.
For the housing element, as a limited and temporary measure, shelters
will be prepared at the church to accommodate five persons for 10 days.
The group arranged that jobless people could contact Toyohashi City,
which provides unemployment benefits including a fixed-sum allowance.
A consultation desk was set up in the church to handle inquiries or
requests. A shift of Brazilian attendants was organized to wait for
calls for a certain time on weekdays.
Inoue and two other Japanese disclosed their home telephone numbers
even outside of the church.
"The desk will open from Dec. 15," Inoue said. "We will
continue it till the unemployment storm calms down. We deal with all
comers regardless of race or religion."
Inoue continued, "We have heard of anxieties about travel expenses
to Brazil and worries about children's schooling. Their difficulties
seem limitless."
Inoue is looking for a volunteer lawyer so that anyone can get professional
advice.
Address inquiries to Catholic Toyohashi Church at telephone 0532-52-3897.
JESUIT RESEARCHER OF JAPANESE CHRISTIANITY DIES
Catholic Weekly, November 30, 2008
 Jesuit Fr. Yuki Ryogo, known for his research into Japanese Christianity,
especially concerning the lives of the 188 Martyrs beatified in November,
died Nov. 17 at Nagasaki's St. Francis Hospital. He was 86 and had
been suffering from malignant lymphoma.
Fr. Ryogo was born in Seville, Spain in 1922 and entered the seminary
in 1939. In 1954 he became a priest in Colombia before coming to Japan
in 1948. He began working at Hiroshima's Fukuyama Church in 1956. From
1957 to 1960, he took charge of training at the Jesuits' Nagasoku house,
and took his final vows in 1958. From 1962 to 2004, he served as director
of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Memorial in Nagasaki, traveling around the
area to raise funds for its construction. When asked how he learned
all the details of the history of the area, he answered, "My college
is Kyushu. I study with my feet."
In order to gather data and funding, he traveled from Nagasaki to places
as far away as Rome and Portugal, continuously researching.
He became a naturalized citizen of Japan in 1978. Until that time,
his name had been Diego Pachego. As a Japanese citizen, he struggled
against prejudice. Some of his greatest achievements were the contributions
made toward the beatification of the 188 Martyrs, an event that took
place a week after his death.
BEATIFICATION MARKS END OF A LONG PROCESS
Catholic Weekly, November 30, 2008
The procedure of beatification is a long process. Prior to the pope's
decree that authorizes the introduction of the cause, an advocate,
in most cases the bishop of the place, must present documents and evidence
that the person in question completed the course of a heroic and evangelical
life, with nothing contrary to faith and morals. He or she is then
called a "servant of God," and given the title "Venerable."
Saints and blesseds are either confessors or martyrs. To be beatified,
a confessor venerable must be the source of at least one miracle. A
commission for the introduction of the cause looks into related information
and data with utmost car and caution.
If a majority of the members are favorable, the pope issues a pontifical
brief permitting the public veneration of the beatified person, who
is believed to be in heaven. The solemn beatification ceremony takes
place under the ordinary episcopal authority. Thereafter, the venerable
is known as "Blessed" and is commemorated on a fixed date.
July 1 is the feast of the newly-beatified 188 Japanese martyrs.
Canonization is taken up when two miracles have reportedly been worked
through a blessed's intercession. It involves not only local churches
but the whole Church, as the pope's Bull of canonization not only permits,
but commands, public veneration of the saint.
Pope John XXIII and Mother Teresa are among the 20th century blessed.
PILGRIMS TAKE PART IN EVENTS ON EVE OF BEATIFICATION
Catholic Weekly, November 30, 2008
Four churches in Nagasaki organized Masses, special devotions
and meditation for five hours on the eve of the Nov. 24 beatification
of Peter Kibe and 187 Japanese martyrs.
At the Urakami Cathedral's "Praying on the Eve," Bishop Osamu
Mizobe of Takamatsu, chairman of the Bishops' Special Committee for
the Causes of Japanese Martyrs, spoke about Julian Nakaura, one of
four members of the Tensho Shonen Shisetsu, a delegation of young envoys
sent to Europe in 1582.
The bishop said that Julian's journey to Europe lacked noteworthy episodes
and his name appeared in the records only when he made a mistake or
fell ill. Yet, on the other hand he was dauntless enough to choose
the way to priesthood in the time of persecution.
Bishop Mizobe said, "He was actually a man of the spirit of never-give-in.
I am fascinated with his character."
The bishop added that the four were all young men, chosen by Jesuit
Fr. Alessandro Valignano. Bishop Mozobe praised the idea of relying
upon the young generation for the future of the newborn Church in Japan.
The bishop reasoned that youth could venture boldly in an unknown world
if led by a someone filled with hope and dreams. Today's Church in
Japan needs to grow new leaders whom young men and women can follow,
he said.
Fr Robert Prevost, the prior general of the Order of St. Augustine
(OSA), celebrated a thanksgiving Mass at Shiroyama Catholic Church
in the evening, attended by over 400 pilgrims from Augustinian churches
in the Shikoku area.
In his homily Fr. Masaki Imada, regional superior of OSA, expressed
joy at the coincidence of offering a Mass for the beatification on
the feast of Christ the King, referred to Augustinian Fr. Thomas Jihei
Kintsuba, one of the martyrs.
"Fr. Kintsuba, raised in a family with devotion to Christ the
King, completed his life by sacrificing himself as a disciple of Christ
the King. We too are called to the life of servants of Christ the King."
At the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan Church, stage acts such as picture
shows, skits and readings were performed by young men and women from
various parishes in the Nagasaki archdiocese. They were a lead-in to
meditation and prayer. The youths also commemorated the late Jesuit
Father Yuki Ryogo, former director of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
Museum.
Cardinal José Saraiva Martins joined the event and told the
participants, "Let's get together tomorrow with devotion, hope,
love and a true spirit of evangelization."
Oura Church also offered opportunities for pilgrims coming from all
over the country and overseas in their spiritual preparations.
On the morning of Nov. 24 Cardinal Martins visited the epicenter of
the atomic explosion in the Atomic Bomb Park and recited the prayer: "Lord,
make me an instrument of your peace."
The cardinal said, "I have been thinking that I must be here." Citing
the message of Pope Benedict XVI for World Peace Day 2008, the cardinal
encouraged world political leaders to "resume a progressive and
mutually agreed dismantling of existing nuclear weapons."
Around noon on Nov. 23, prior to the evening events, Cardinal Martins
visited the Unzen Jigoku, a spring of boiling water into which martyrs
were cast to be boiled alive.
Laying flowers at a cross there, the cardinal said, "I am moved
at being able to pray on the site of many of the martyrdoms. I feel
the martyrs bequeath us their never-give-in spirit in following our
Lord."
Afterwards, the cardinal went to the Unzen Church, where he planted
three young dogwood trees to mark his visit, and blessed 80 "young
walking pilgrims," a group of youths who would walk overnight
58 kilometers from Unzen to Nagasaki.
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