By UCA News reporter
CARDINAL Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo has urged the Catholic Church in Asia, which is an “absolute minority” in the region, to commit itself to inter-religious dialogue.
Kikuchi emphasized that the commitment towards inter-religious dialogue “is not a compromise of our conviction, but to synergize our potential to create better world,” the Crux reported on Dec 9.
The Asian Church’s actions will aid in realizing the will of God through “peacebuilding, protection of human dignity, protection of the environment, eradication of poverty, and assisting people in difficult life situations,” Kikuchi added.
Kikuchi was among the 21 new cardinals installed by Pope Francis during the consistory held at the Vatican City on Dec 7.
There were four new cardinals from Asia in the latest consistory, thus taking the number of Asian cardinals to 37 (around 15 percent) out of 253 cardinals worldwide.
The other newly installed cardinals are Pablo Virgilio S. David from the Philippines, Dominique Joseph Mathieu from Iran, and George Jacob Koovakad from India.
Kikuchi pointed out that the movement of people over national boundaries has been “a major cause of creating a challenging environment for many in Asia.”
“The Asian Church is expected to be a champion of protecting ,” Kikuchi emphasized.
While stating that he was “truly humbled” when Francis named him cardinal on Oct 6, while he was attending the Synod on Synodality in Rome, Kikuchi added that he was “still contemplating finding out what God wants me to do now.”
“Truly, it is a great honor to the Church of Tokyo and the Church of Japan to have yet another cardinal,” Kikuchi said.
The prelate who leads the Archdiocese of Tokyo stated that his appointment as cardinal was a “call to fulfill our responsibility in the Mission of the Church.”
Citing Francis’ 2019 message in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for complete peace by abolishing nuclear weapons, Kikuchi emphasized that “it is the responsibility of the Church in Japan to be a front-runner for peacebuilding.”
Kikuchi who also serves as the president of Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican’s social service wing, said that his appointment shows Francis’ “expectation for Caritas to be a front-runner of the Synodal Church.”
“Being Synodal Church is what Caritas has been doing for many years all over the world,” Kikuchi remarked.
Kikuchi pointed out that having several cardinals among Asian bishops – especially among the leaders of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) – symbolizes the Catholic Church’s expectation for the Asian Church to be “a front-runner for the protection of human dignity.”
Japan has some 400,000 Catholics (around 0.33 percent) among its total population of 120 million people.
The total Christian population in Japan is estimated at 1.26 million, which is around 1.05 percent of the population. – UCA News
