１．Impact comes from a single pamphlet
In front of Nagoya Cathedral which I go to, there is a bookshop called Paul’s Bookstore, which specialises in selling Christian books, crucifixes, pictures and other items related to religious life.
This bookshop is run by Daughters of Saint Paul, a congregation that publishes Catholic Church books worldwide.
When I was a child, living in Gifu Prefecture near Nagoya, I once visited the Cathedral in Nagoya. I remember how happy I was when a lady from the church who came with me bought me a rosary.
On 2023/12/10, when I came to cathedral, I noticed a pamphlet stating that this Paul’s Bookstore would close on 25 December, Christmas Day.
I was surprised when I saw the news in a pamphlet, as I hadn’t been praying there for the last three weeks.
2. Not the bookshop, but the convent cannot be maintained.
After Mass, I stopped by the Pauline Bookshop in front of the church and told the sisters of my surprise. According to the Sisters, the convent was withdrawing … She told me that there were convents in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture and that everyone was going there.
It has been a long time since there were any young people who wanted to become priests or religious, and there are no Japanese in the seminaries at all. I knew that small congregations were closing their branches one after another. Sophia University, the largest and highest level of Catholic universities in Japan, where Mother Teresa and the Pope used to drop in whenever they visited Japan, no longer has any priest professors, except in the theology department. In addition, a number of congregation-run high schools no longer have priests or friars.
However, Daughters of St. Paul is a major congregation responsible for publishing Catholic Church documents worldwide. At last, we cannot hide our shock that even such a major congregation has become unsustainable.
3. The withdrawal has begun.
Catholics in Japan make up only 0.3% of the population and, despite their small size, they have worked diligently to serve the poor and preach the Gospel of Christ.
Just as the elves of Lord of the Rings left Middle-earth behind them, so now our Catholic Church is no longer forced to retreat, not only from here in Nagoya, but from all parts of Japan.
Nagoya is the third largest metropolitan area in Japan. If even the convent (bookshop) in front of the bishop’s church in Nagoya can no longer be maintained by a major congregation, what will become of us in the future?
4. Lives are secure, but communities are melting away.
Life will go on even if the Church disappears from the area. Japan is a developed country and we will not have any immediate problems in our lives…
But those of us who have lived shoulder to shoulder as an overwhelming minority in Japanese society can only sit back and watch as our communities finally melt away.
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