Japan: universal Church strives to welcome foreign communities
There are over a million Catholics in the country, but this figure includes both local and foreign believers. A missionary said: "The important thing is that priests give a good example and encourage inter-cultural integration."
Sapporo (AsiaNews/CWJ) The Church in Japan is composed of more than a million Catholics, but around half are from different nationalities. Filipinos and Indonesians are definitely the largest communities living there. Problems arise out of a "slightly close-minded mentality" among Japanese Catholics, and from the fact that "many priests do not strive for unity with foreigners, they treat them as guests".
However, positive examples of integration are not lacking, like the Welcome House, a counseling centre for workers coming from abroad who are resident in the country. "When I have time, I come here to rest. I thank God for it," said Grace Nakagawa, a Filipina in Sapporo.
According to 2004 government statistics, there are more than 199,000 Filipinos resident in Japan. Welcome House started out as a counseling centre for residents coming from other nations. For Sunday lunch, the Filipino community in Sapporo largely Catholic comes together to meet and to talk about their lives; they speak in Tagalog, the local Filipino language.
Fr James Mylet, a Maryknoll missionary, said: "In Church, they cannot express their real feelings. Japanese say internationalization is progressing, but foreigners say there's a long way to go."
Another example of the desire to integrate this community comes from the sisters of St Vincent de Paul, who work with the Filipino community in the
Diocese of Osaka.
"Conditions were very difficult in the beginning," explained Sr Noriko Mori. "Japanese parishioners used to complain, 'Why must we accept people like these in our church?'"
In 1983, at the request of the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, the Japanese bishops set up a Commission for the Support of Asian Women Resident in Japan. Sr Mori has worked with that commission since 1986.
In the beginning, she used to spend her time in the lobby at Itami airport, to meet passengers coming off the one-way flight from Manila, and hand out cards to Filipinas as they came down. Now some of those women are married with children. "Communities, however, have not yet really integrated," said Sr Mori. "I keep hoping that one day we'll see a little more of the richness one should find in the Catholic Church in Japan."
In Higashi Sumiyoshi, the Daughters of Charity have established the Bahaini Maria center where lawyers and other volunteers assist members of the Filipino community. The aid they offer is crucially important because just as the number of those registering for permanent residence in Japan has increased, so, too, have divorce and custody cases.
In Okinawa, meanwhile, the situation is "completely different". Fr Satoshi Ito said: "Our Catholics do not find it the least bit strange to have Mass offered in a mixture of languages and Filipinos are perfectly integrated," he said." Problems arise where the pastor does not strive for unity," said Fr Rommel Cruz, a Filipino missionary priest working in Naha diocese. "If he treats foreigners as guests they will remain so. If he lets them take part in running the parish they will integrate. Let the pastor set an example; the parishioners will follow."
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20/07/2020 15:48
