The number of foreigners living in Japan has reached an all-time high. According to the country’s Immigration Services Agency, more than three million aliens were living in Japan at the end of 2022. In fact, the agency’s count of 3,075,213 is lower than the actual number because there are undocumented aliens in the country in Read more
Do you remember the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000? Did it make any difference in your life at the time? Has it had any lasting impact on your life and faith? Preparation for the Great Jubilee began on Nov. 10, 1994, when Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (As Read more
The Gospels contain quotes attributed to Jesus that do not always agree with each other. Sometimes the differences are insignificant, a matter of wording. In other cases, the versions radically differ from one another. In yet other cases, the evidence is strong that a saying is not what scholars call ipsissima verba, the very words Read more
Nearly two decades ago, I was asked to become the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan. My first reaction was gut-hurting laughter. When I caught my breath, I said to the priest who had been sent to present the proposal, “Look at my face!” It was, indeed, unprecedented Read more
One of the first big crises the Church faced was one that Jesus had probably not anticipated. He certainly did not leave any instructions or even advice on how to deal with it. The problem appears in the Acts of the Apostles: “Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists Read more
Just as Christians in the 21st century are heirs of the apostles and martyrs of the early Church, Christians in Japan are heirs of the martyrs and hidden Christians of that country from the early 17th century to the late 19th century. That is true whether we modern believers are Japanese or not, Catholic Christians Read more
It is the spring sumo season in Japan, one of the six two-week periods of the year when the national sport is played out before huge crowds. But not this year. The media are showing the wrestling tournament taking place in an empty venue. Spectators are banned from the arena. In various parts of the Read more
The agenda for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region being held in Rome includes discussion of the ordination of “married men of proven virtue” (viri probati) to provide opportunities to join in the Eucharist for the Catholics of Amazonia, where a shortage of priests prevents people from sharing in the sacrament for months Read more
Especially during the tourist season, the church at which I exercise my liturgical ministry receives a large number of visitors. A surprising number of them, usually women, make it a point to tell me with an air of disapproval for what we have on offer that in their home country they only go to Latin Read more
The publisher of an Asian Catholic news website has called for the Church to play a role in reducing the Earth’s human population. In an opinion piece posted on ucanews.com, Fr William Grimm noted that Pope Francis’s recent encyclical Laudato Si’ dismissed concerns about overpopulation as a major source of the ecological crisis. Fr Grimm Read more