Francis' rosary to Hakamada, innocent for many years on death row

As the world follow news of the Pope's health, the Archbishop of Tokyo, Cardinal Kikuchi, has delivered a gift from the Pope to the elderly former Japanese prisoner, exonerated after more than half a century spent in prison on charges of murder. In 1984 he was baptised with the Christian name of Paul.

Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – These are anxious times for the whole world, which is praying for Pope Francis' health. However, his physical weakness has not stopped him from showing his support for others.

This very significant gesture was posted yesterday on his social media profile by Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Archbishop of Tokyo and President of Caritas Internationalis.

The cardinal published a photograph on his social media profile showing him together with Paul Iwao Hakamada, ‘the world's longest-serving death row inmate’.

‘Recently,’ said Card. Kikuchi, ‘the Holy Father sent a message and a rosary to Mr Hakamada through the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. I gave them to him today’.

Hakamada - who is now 88 years old - was convicted in 1968 of a murder he always maintained he didn't commit. Until 26 September 2024, when the Shizuoka District Court found him not guilty in a long-awaited retrial.

The Court found that the evidence used against him had been fabricated by the police at the time. On 9 October 2024, the public prosecutor decided not to appeal and Mr Hakamada was thus granted full freedom after half a century.

Now, therefore, Cardinal Kikuchi was able to bring him Pope Francis' message and rosary. A gift particularly appreciated by the former prisoner who, during his long imprisonment, embraced Christianity and was baptised by Fr Shimura, a priest of the Archdiocese of Tokyo, at Christmas 1984.

Before going to prison Hakamada wasn't a religious person; and as late as 1973 in his letters he expressed his anger even towards God. ‘For what and for how long must I be incarcerated or must I die in prison? ... If this is God's will, nobody needs a God like that’.

His relationship with some Japanese Catholics who took an interest in him from 1982 onwards brought him closer to the faith. Until, that is, he was baptised in prison. ‘Since I was given the Christian name Paul, I feel I must be aware of his greatness’, he wrote the following year.

In his post, Cardinal Kikuchi also recounts that in November 2019, when Pope Francis made a pastoral visit to Japan, the Bishops' Conference managed to invite Hakamada and his sister Hideko to attend Mass at Tokyo Dome.

“But on that occasion we were unable to arrange for him to meet the Holy Father,” recalls the Archbishop of Tokyo. However, he added that ‘on his return to Rome, the Pope emphasised the importance of abolishing the death penalty’.

This was a message that the bishops of Japan also wanted to repeat after the historic sentence that exonerated the elderly former prisoner.

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