TOKYO 14 September
2012 -- The October edition of Salesian Japan's
'Catholic
Life' (Katorikku Seikatsu)
magazine is the thousandth such edition.
84 years have gone by since 24th May 1928 when Fr
Cimatti, just a bare two years after arriving in Japan,
published a
pamphlet-sized item called 'Don Bosco' for the first time. It
was a
four page affair
aimed at Christian and non-Christian alike in Miyazaki, where
he was
based and which was the starting point for the Salesian
mission. 'Don
Bosco' was also eventually known also as the 'Salesian
Bulletin' and
became an excellent form of communication on the part of the
early
Salesians as the Province gradually took shape.
During the War, but only for two years, 'Don Bosco' ceased
publication
but within three months of the conclusion to hostilities, in
November 1945 the magazine resumed publication under a new
name: The Mustard Seed,
a name it kept until 1952 when it changed to the title
it has kept ever since: Catholic
Life. It had then reached its 273rd
edition. Fr Federico
Barbarom helped by Frs Dal Col and Mantegazza, were the
editors at that
point.
On Saturday 8 September 2012 at Tokyo's Salesian Meguro
Parish, there
was a special commemoration for the 1,000th edition. A solemn
Mass with
Archbishop Peter Okada as main celebrant, and some twenty
other priests
was celebrated in the presence of 200 faithful, a good number
of whom
collaborate directly in the publication. Fr Peter Sekiya, the
current
director of Don Bosco Sha, Salesian Publishers, presented the
collaborators, many of whom are well-known in wider Japanese
society.
They are mainly lay people.
As is traditional for any Japanese festivities, the event was
followed
by a fraternal meal which further resolved the determination
to
continue with this magazine, which has undoubtedly been a
powerful tool
for the missionary apostolate in the Land of the Rising Sun.
