|
|
Church in the World‘Divisive’ seminary to be shutJapan Robert Mickens - 10 May 2008A NEO-CATECHUMENATE seminary in Japan is to close after the country's bishops convinced Vatican officials that the movement was causing divisions in the Church by its way of thinking and in its attitude towards Japanese culture. Four senior Japanese bishops, including the president and vice president of the national episcopal conference, met for nearly an hour on 25 April with Pope Benedict XVI, according to a recent Union of Catholic Asian News report. It was the third time in five months that they were in Rome to express serious concerns over the presence of the Neo-Catechumenal Way in their country. The movement, founded in Spain in 1964, has spread to 105 countries and operates a missionary seminary in the small Diocese of Takamatsu some 320 miles south-west of Tokyo. Francis Xavier Osamu Mizobe, the Bishop of Takamatsu, encountered difficulties with the "Neo-Cats" four years ago when he was appointed head of the diocese. He and other bishops raised their concerns directly to the Pope and other Vatican officials last December when they came to Rome for their five-yearly ad limina visits. "In the small Catholic Church of Japan, the powerful sect-like activity of Way members is divisive and confrontational. It has caused division and strife in the Church," said Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada of Tokyo, the bishops' conference president, during his group address to the Pope. But it is believed that Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Propaganda Fidei) and favourable to the Neo-Catechumenal Way, intervened to "protect" the movement. Japan's 16 Catholic dioceses, with 500,000 members, are directly dependent on the cardinal's office, rather than the Congregation for Bishops or the Secretariat of State, because they are considered to be in mission territory. Undeterred, Bishop Mizobe appealed to Vatican officials a second time when he came back to Rome early last month with Japan's highest-ranking bishops. That second visit still produced no results. The bishops returned for a third time and were finally able to meet privately with Pope Benedict. |
  In this week’s issueArt and the spirit Strictly not for turning A question of conscience Saving the children Rough justice for minorities Don’t look now Well read and well informed Tablet Traveller Churches under-valued or over-estimating themselves? Francis Davis, guest contributor Hume knew Alan Hopes would one day be bishop Fr Mark Woodruff, guest contributor Anglican patrimony is becoming a reality James Roberts Don't get cynical about the impact of campaigns Geoffrey Chongo, guest contributor From creation to 're-creation' The Holy See's pavilion at Venice Biennale For the first time, the Holy See has entered a pavilion for this year‘s Venice Biennale. Artists were asked to tackle themes from Michelangelo‘s Sistine Chapel ceiling ... Local authorities 'wary of faith groups but rely on their services' Report by MPs finds low level of religious literacy among councils Faith groups only want to engage in social action to push their beliefs on others and their adherents oppose equality - these are some of the assumptions an all-party group of Christian ... Middle classes dominant in top Catholic schools The Sutton Trust A new report by the Sutton Trust has revealed that the hundred top performing Catholic state schools in England and Wales contain just half the average proportion of pupils from ... Tiptoeing towards ScripturePope Benedict XVI has exhorted Catholics to become more familiar with their Bibles, in his round-up of the 2008 Synod on the Word of God. At the same time the Bible Society ...
|
3.gif)
