In an interview with Vatican media, the future Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo (Japan) and president of Caritas Internationalis, discusses the state of the Church, and particularly discusses his appointment and his work for world peace .
Deborah Castellano Lubov – Vatican City
«The Church is one family across the world and we must support each other“. This was stated by the cardinal appointed by the Holy Father, Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo and president of Caritas Internationalis, in an interview with Vatican media. Last Sunday, October 6, Pope Francis, who in 2019 visited Tokyo, announced that Bishop Kikuchi is one of the cardinals who will be created during the next consistory on December 8, 2024.
In an interview, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan discusses his appointment, how he will advise the Holy Father as cardinal, and his own vocation and spirituality. Additionally, Cardinal Kikuchi shares what he sees as the most important issues for the Church today, also speaking on how to best respond in a war-afflicted world.
Now that you have learned that Pope Francis has named you a cardinal, how do you plan to advise the Holy Father? And advise him in particular on the Church in Asia?
In fact, as president of Caritas Internationalis [la branche humanitaire du Vatican]I report to the Holy Father on what is happening within Caritas. I have already met the Holy Father several times. Of course, I don’t speak Italian. I don’t speak Spanish. This is why I always call on someone from Caritas to translate for me. But I have already given him information and so I will continue to do so.
The Pope declared a “Year of Prayer”. We have the Synod and so many other events, but he declared the year of prayer before the next Jubilee. Could you tell us about your spirituality and how you discovered your vocation?
My spirituality is complex, but I was raised by Swiss missionaries. I was born the son of a catechist in northern Japan and lived in the parish. I lived with the parish priest, who was a Swiss missionary. He’s the one who raised me. He taught me to pray and to be an altar boy. When I was little, I already wanted to be a missionary. Through his connections with the German-speaking Missionaries of the Divine Word working in the neighboring prefecture, I was brought to the minor seminary of the Missionaries of the Divine Word in Japan and was raised as a missionary. Therefore, my spirituality, my belief, is really based on this meeting with the foreign missionary. That’s why, when I became a priest, I really wanted to be a missionary, and so I went to Africa.
Regarding your missionary experience in Africa, I believe you spent almost ten years in Ghana. How did this influence you? Is there anything you learned about the Church?
In 1986 I was ordained a priest and immediately went to Ghana. I was sent to a mission station where there was no electricity or water, but where the people were very happy. I met so many happy people there, despite the many difficulties. But I wondered why people were so happy. Illness, poverty, all kinds of difficulties, but people are happy. Then I discovered why. They told me that they were happy because they knew that if they had difficulty, someone would come and help them. “You will never be abandoned. You will never be forgotten“. This is the experience I had in Ghana. Since then, since I started working for Caritas for many years, this is my main concept of helping others: I will not forget you I will not forget you. I will always support you.
What importance do you attach to the Church of Asia and, given your time in Africa, also to Africa, in the universal Church today?
I spoke about the shift of the center of the Church, from the Western Churches to what are called the Southern Churches. Asia is a Church of the Global South. Because the Asian Church today produces so many vocations, the Churches are growing and spirituality is deepening. It is therefore our duty to contribute to the universal Church. The time has come for Asia to contribute to the mission of the Church.
Right now there are wars across the world, and the Holy Father has called for a day of prayer and fasting. What tools do you think should be used to work for peace?
Nowadays it is very difficult to talk about peace. People, especially after the Covid pandemic, are becoming very selfish and only thinking about their own safety. And when people become selfish, it is very difficult to talk about peace or stability in other distant countries. Japan, the Middle East or the Holy Land are very far away. Therefore, it is very difficult for people to understand that this is really our problem. It’s not their problem, but it’s “our problem” because we live as one family on the same planet. That is the idea. I think the Church needs to continue to talk to people about the fact that we live as one family.
Cardinal Kikuchi, are there one or more issues that seem most important to you for the Catholic Church today?
Migration is one of the biggest problems. In Japan or Korea, it’s the same thing, society is aging and we don’t have many children. The birth rate is falling. Naturally, to support or maintain society, the influx of migrants is a necessity. But of course, there is a tendency not to want to integrate these migrants into society. There is always some sort of harsh opinion towards them. But without migrants we cannot survive. This is therefore a contradiction. Under these conditions, the question arises of how to treat or integrate these migrants into society. This is a major problem for the Catholic Church, because a lot of them are Catholic, a lot of them are Christian. Nowadays, if you go to parishes in Japan, you see a lot of migrants, a lot of migrant Catholics. Therefore, their integration into society is the main problem we need to address.
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