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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