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Japan’s bishops respond to Synod survey

The Catholic bishops of Japan underline their specific situation in their reply to the Synod survey. About 0.35% of the population are Japanese Catholics – about 440,000. Catholic immigrants bring the total to about 1 million. Their situation is very dissimilar to Ireland, but some of their responses may echo the Irish experience. Since a very large number of marriages of Catholics are with a spouse who is not a Catholic, this adds an extra complicating factor. Homes where all are Catholic are few.

They say: “The questions and topics of this survey have been developed with the mindset of Christian countries in which the entire family is Christian. For example, religiously mixed marriages seem to be considered a problem.”

Their final paragraph: “Even while keeping in mind the various problems that face family life today, it is important to remember and emphasize the strengths of the traditional Japanese family. Without any need of encouragement, invitation or cajoling, Japanese still take part in funerals or weddings as a normal requirement. Such is the power of tradition that cannot be ignored. The Church must make use of this. The Church often falls short in this, presenting a high threshold for entry and lacking hospitality and practical kindness. As Hebrews 13:2 teaches us, “Do not neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The Church must be a refuge for those worn by the journey of life, and ceremonial occasions are places where they can experience that refuge.”

Their 15-page report in English can be found on the Japanese Bishops’ website: http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp

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Bread and circuses during the Year of Mercy? No, grazie!

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5 Comments

Robert Mickens casts a critical eye on some of the planned events for the Holy Year of Mercy.
To say he is not impressed might be to understate his view.
Looking at two events, the commissioning of ‘missionaries of mercy’ and the displaying of the bodies of Saint Leopold Mandić and Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina for public veneration he says “Both of them are aimed, fundamentally, at one thing — getting people to go back to confession, a practice most Catholics gave up a long, long time ago. …… this is one verdict of the “sensus fidelium” that it seems the pope does not want to acknowledge.”
The Holy Year of Mercy was announced “at a time when the world has never been more aware of its divisions or more uncertain about how to resolve its seemingly irresolvable conflicts and heal its apparently incurable wounds; when it has never been so incapable of achieving peace and bringing about reconciliation.
The Holy Year is the pope’s attempt to help the world — but even more so the church — find the solution to this impossible situation. And he is convinced that it will only be done when people allow themselves to be healed by God’s mercy and then, in turn, offer it to others; when they allow themselves to be forgiven and, in turn, begin forgiving others.”

Mickens states that most reasonable Catholics — Italians included — disagree with the need for such props and gimmicks the jubilee committee is using to promote the Holy Year.”

3 Comments

  1. Eddie Finnegan says:

    And just to think that Japanese were once so obedient to divinely constituted authority, so punctilious in following instruction. Ah well, so only myself and the bishops of these islands are the faithful few. Time to start on that Ark as our antediluvian era comes to a close. Seems it’s not just the sheep we’ll take on the smell of over the next six weeks. Does IKEA do flatpacks of 300 cubits x 50 x 30 ?

    Reply
  2. Joe O'Leary says:

    I wonder did the Vatican realize how explosive the effect would be when the long-muzzled bishops were allowed to speak up. I see the Japanese bishops are still tight-lipped on the same-sex questions — reflecting, and reinforcing, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude to the society as a whole.

    Reply
  3. Joe O'Leary says:

    PS: reading more carefully, I find a paragraph beginning “Same-sex relationships have not yet become an issue as in some Western countries, but are likely to become an issue because Japanese society at large is becoming more tolerant of homosexuality, both as an orientation and lifestyle”. The entire statement of the Bishops is short on specifics.

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