by Br. James Donegan

The Province of St. Mary has been engaged in international mission for generations, sending priests and brothers to Asia and Latin America. Today, there are 14 friars serving in the Delegation of Japan, where the Capuchins have had a presence since 1947. Br. James Donegan, the provincial mission director, made a visitation of Okinawa and mainland Japan in early July. Here is his report.

On July 1, I landed in Okinawa, Japan, with Fr. Mariosvaldo Florentino, general secretary for mission animation for the Order. There, I had the opportunity to visit the two friaries and the various ministries of the brothers. On the evening of the Fourth of July, I had supper with our brother Bishop Wayne Berndt of the Diocese of Naha, and with Bishop Emeritus Berard Toshio Oshikawa, a Conventual Franciscan.

Father Mariosvaldo and I continued on to mainland Japan to visit the two friaries and the ministries of our brothers there. One of these was St. Bonaventure Friary in Fukuoka. There, two of our brothers work in parishes, while a third is studying Japanese. The friary was established originally by the Franciscans, who later departed from there because of diminishing numbers. The Capuchins took their place in 2011.

Of particular note in the friary is that the chapel has a fumi-e, a likeness of a religious image that those suspected of being Christians were required to step on during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Those who would not do so were subject to torture and martyrdom. In this instance, the image could be described as a sort of anti-relic, as it is an object which the holy martyrs specifically did not touch.

The brothers also met with Most Rev. Josep Abella, bishop of Fukuoka and a Claretian missionary. They participated in the Sunday Masses of the Takamiya Catholic Church, located next to St. Bonaventure Friary, and the Minoshima Pastoral Center, whose mission includes pastoring the small Spanish-speaking Catholic population in Fukuoka. Thus the Mass at Minoshima was celebrated Japanese and Spanish.

Our visitation culminated with a journey to the brothers in Mine, around 85 miles north of Tokyo. There, the brothers attend to several parishes in the Diocese of Saitama, as well as two kindergarten classes that are run by the diocese.

More than half the population of Japan is Buddhist, while less than 2 percent of the people are Christians. Nearly all the staff and students of the kindergarten classes are non-Catholics. Nonetheless, the brothers see their involvement with the children as important to their mission, as they perform such activities as blessing the children and their parents for their birthdays.

The parishes in this diocese have many people who are not Japanese, due in large part to the presence of foreign workers in the area. As a result, one parish attended to by the friars has bilingual Masses in which English, Spanish, or Vietnamese are used together with Japanese.

While visiting all the places where the friars of the Mine fraternity serve, we also met with Bishop Mario Michiaki Yamanouchi. Bishop Mario was born in Japan but moved with his family to Argentina at the age of 8. He joined the Salesians as an adult and then returned to Japan. From his unique outsider-insider perspective, he said it was important for the Church to help migrant peoples become a part of their adopted society; and for their contribution to that mission, he valued the Capuchin presence in his diocese.

Please pray for our brothers in Japan, that they may continue to grow in our fraternal life and ministry in the country.