Make Friends First

Fr. Larry Craig, ss.cc. 

From 1943 to 1945, I was Pastor of St Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. Most of the men of my parish had been drafted into World War II. I decided that it was also my duty enlist and offer my services as a chaplain for the armed forces.

As a chaplain I was assigned to the 113^th Regiment of the 43^rd Division.  Initially stationed in California I was later sent to New Guinea and then transported to Philippines.  In 1945, six months before the end of the war, I arrived in Leyte, when the armed forces began moving into the ‘mopping-up’ phase of the war. In September, during the American invasion of Japan, we were assigned to an airfield south of Tokyo.  After the war ended, I remained in Japan for a year with the occupation forces and was discharged in 1946 returning to Fairhaven.  The USA was a Province at the time.

JAPAN MISSION DEVELOPMENT

In 1946, Fr. Levinus ss.cc., Provincial, Belgium Province, was asked by the Holy See to send men to begin working in Japan. At the time of the request, the Belgium Province had already begun developing missions in Zaire, Africa, and there was no one left to send. Fr. Levinus, therefore, asked Fr. Columba, ss.cc., then Vice Provincial of USA Pro Province, for volunteers to begin work in Japan. Fathers Albert Evans, Patrick Heran, and I were selected to go. In July, 1949, we arrived by ship at Yokohama, Japan.

Japan is geographically divided into areas called prefectures, which are similar to American states. We were assigned to Ibaraki Prefecture, which was one of four making up the Diocese of Urawa. During this time Urawa was an Apostolic Prefecture, which means that it did not have a Bishop but rather had an Apostolic Prefect. The other prefectures were Tochias, Saitama, and Gumna.

Before the arrival of the SS.CC., the French Foreign Missionary Order was active in evangelizing the Prefecture and had converted several farming families. When the head of a farming household converted to Christianity the entire family also converted. This led to the development of many pockets of baptized Catholics throughout the area. Except for the Feasts of Christmas and Easter they were unable to attend the parish in Mito which was closest to them. So, from time to time, I went with the Catechist to these households and celebrated Liturgy with them. Within a period of a year, the parish had two missions set up to reach out these Catholics. In Mito, the Franciscans had started a parish community called St. John the Baptist and it was here that I began the work. In 1951, Father Steven Courterux, ss.cc., a priest of the Belgium Province, bequeathed $7,000 to the parish, at which time its name was changed to The Church of the Holy Family to honor Fr. Steven’s request.

 Property for the first mission at Shimodate was purchased and Fr. Evans became the first pastor. A priest of the Paris Foreign Missions had prepared the Christians of Shimodate for a missionary presence. He had traveled to Shimodate and was granted permission by a farmer to stay over night in a hut located a distance from the main household. The next day fifty farmers arrived to look at the foreigner. 

The second mission was located in Tsuchiura. Fr. Patrick Heran became its first pastor. In 1951, Frs. Biffar and Mitchell, along with Fr. Dan Perry, joined me. The language barrier remained a problem since there was still no official school at which Japanese could be studied.

Pastoral Ministry

The post war conditions in Japan and the needs these conditions created were what brought the Japanese people to us. People had no jobs, there was not much food available, and poverty was widespread.  People often came not seeking spiritual guidance but rather material assistance.

With little knowledge of the Japanese language and everyday customs, we relied heavily on the parish Japanese catechist. Mr. Inoue was my primary pastoral assistant from Mito. An important pastoral duty during the beginning of the Japanese Province was ministering to Japanese men confined to and dying in the TB Clinics. We paid much attention to their religious instruction in preparation for baptism. In fact, this ministry became the primary form of contact with the Japanese people. The local catechist would instruct the catechumens, and then he and other priests would baptize them and try to console the victim’s family. The TB facilities were like army barracks and sanitation was very poor. Very little medicine was available for the dying and we didn’t have the means to take precautionary measures as is done today. Actually, precautions were something that no one really considered. 

Pastoral care also took the form of visits to the Catholic families living great distances form the Church. We would travel to be with the families, hear confessions, and celebrate the liturgy in their homes. Later, as various parishes were formed, home visitations were an opportunity for Enthroning the Families to the Sacred Heart. The English pamphlet was translated into Japanese and a picture of the Sacred Heart was displayed.

Make Friends First

A missionary named Fr. Rock Carpentier, OFM, said that he was advised by Tokyo’s Archbishop Chambon to first make friends among the Japanese before evangelizing them. Fr. Rock acted upon this advice by learning archery, a national Japanese sport, and then by starting archery groups. Our brothers, in a similar fashion, followed the Archbishop’s advice. At the Church in Mito City, Fr. Albert Evans started a baseball team. At the time, Fr. Kobayashi was in the second year of high school and liked baseball. He came to Mito to join the team. Sometime after joining, he converted to Catholicism and was baptized. Fr. Kawamata, while in Elementary School, attended the Episcopal Church when he heard there was a Boy Scout Organization in Mito, he came too and was eventually baptized.

Arrivals and Expansion

In 1951, Frs. Biffar and Mitchell arrived.  As yet there was no language school, so a Japanese teacher began instructing them. In 1953, we began looking for a central place to house our monastery. Fr. Condon, ss.cc., Vice Provincial USA, had received a gift of $70,000 that he allocated for the purchase of Japanese property and a building. Since the dollar was strong against the Japanese yen, it was a good time to buy. Tomobe Town, located in the center of Ibaraki Prefecture, was selected.  It had two railway lines that ran through it making it easily accessible to our missions in Shimodate and Tsuchiura.

The monastery is a two story concrete building. On the first floor there is a chapel, offices, dining room, and kitchen. On the second floor there is a recreation and meeting space and individual bedrooms. 

Japanese Religious and Cultural Climate 

At the time the missions were being established, the prevalent religions practiced were Buddhism and Shintoism. Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China in the year 500 AD. There were many temples throughout Japanese cities similar to American cities where churches could be found clustered together in close proximity. Buddhism supplied the Japanese culture religious teachings and many external ceremonies and festivities that were popular with the general population. The Buddhist Priests introduced Chinese characters, which are the basis of Japan’s written language.  Ninety percent of the population is buried in Buddhist ceremonies. Shintoism is the natural religion of Japan and fifty percent of all the weddings in Japan are celebrated in Shinto temples.

The Missions and Education

It became clear to the Fathers that because their missions were located in cities with populations under 200,000, opening primary and secondary schools was not a financially feasible plan since they would never be able to compete with the public schools already in place. Kindergartens, however, were considered an effective way of meeting the needs of families, establishing a means of steady contact with them through active PTA’s and also a means of introducing Christianity to both parents and children. Both missions therefore opted to operate kindergartens. They were staffed by qualified Japanese and were usually housed in a building located on the mission grounds.

Post War Conditions Subside

Within ten years of our arrival, with the help of American dollars, Japan began its gradual economic stabilization and recovery from poverty. Ibaraki Prefecture is an agricultural area and its principal product is the production of rice. The country also developed industrially, which contributed to its gradual recovery. Hitachi City in Ibaraki was the headquarters of the Hitachi Company, which in some ways is similar to General Electric in America with 70,000 employees.

Read Fr. Michael Coleman's Homily on Fr. Larry Craig, ss.cc.