1651 Ordinations
austraLasia 1651

Tokyo ordinations link Japan and Vietnam

TOKYO: 17th September 2006 -- Tokyo's new auxiliary Bishop Koda celebrated his first ordinations on Saturday September 16th at the Tokyo Suginami Salesian parish which is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year.  Ordained were Fr Shin Mishima sdb and Fr Vincent Manh a Vietnamese diocesan priest sent to Japan for his studies by Bishop Joseph Tiem sdb from Bui Chu diocese.  The ordination ceremony was a harmonious mixture of Japanese and Vietnamese elements and gave witness to the multicultural nature of the Japanese Catholic Church.
    The ordination was attended by some 70 Salesian priests and brothers from Japan, along with the Regional Superior Fr Klement, Fr Aldo Giraudo from Rome-UPS and Fr Joseph Binh sdb from Vietnam who had been in Tokyo as part of the Vietnamese migrant workers festival in Yokohama. A large number of Salesian Family members and aspirants also attended, and the Tokyo Vietnamese community was well represented.
    The Japanese Provincial, Fr Puppo, presented both newly ordained after their ordination.  Fr Manh has been supported by the Salesians for the time of his studies in Japan, at the request of Bishop Tiem.  Fr Manh was able to express his thanks in excellent Japanese.  Fr Shin (whose name means 'heart'), expressed his gratitude to those who had accompanied him over the long road lasting 21 years from his early aspiranthood to the culminating day of his ordination.  The ordaining bishop had been his parish priest in the past, so it was a particularly joyful moment for them both.  The bishop spoke to the ordinands of the importance of a sincere priestly heart, a heart which grows through pastoral work and which needs to remain tightly fixed to its divine master.
    The first mass was celebrated at the Salesian parish Chofu, on the Sunday.  Fr Manh is expected to remain in Tokyo for several more years completing studies and pastoral assignments.  Fr Shin will be appointed next year to Yokohama Salesio Gakuin community.

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