YAMATO (YOKOHAMA CITY): 4th July 2005 -- Just three
months into the experience, the three Salesian confreres who form the
pastoral nucleus of Japan's latest push into migrant worker ministry
have declared that they are working through a daily Pentecost
experience - and loving it.
Yamato parish is a complex reality, but one which
the Province had decided to accept as part of the restructuring of
ministry requested by last year's Provincial Chapter. It
comprises around 1,000 Japanese Catholics, 500 Filipinos most of whom
work at the nearby US airbase, 150 Sri Lankans, 200 Latinos, all
Spanish-speaking, around 50 from the Afro-Asian community who speak
mostly English, 200 Vietnamese, and a number of American military
personnel who seek spiritual help.
Frs Lap, Nagasawa and Cavaliere between them cover
Vietnamese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, English and individually
have attempted to gain proficiency in as many of those languages as is
practicable, besides those which they already speak well. It is
more than just learning languages, they find. All these ethnic
groups crowded in upon one another give rise to a number of cultural
challenges, the need to encourage harmony and team work. Three
times a year the parish celebrates an 'international' Eucharist where
all the relevant languages are included.
The experience for the Japanese Catholics is a novel
one. They are normally accustomed to a single parish
priest. At Yamato they see three apparently equal priests (though
Fr Lap is the one in charge of the parish). The outward-looking
nature of this ministry is also to some extent novel in Japan, though a
notable feature of the Salesian presence now in that province.
Yamato is the second parish focusing on migrant worker ministry, the
other being Hamamatsu, reported in austraLasia
October last year. This latter parish focuses mainly on Brazilian
migrant workers.
In physical terms the parish compound at Yamato is
small, crowded even, with minimal parking space. The area is
residential with very little space for anything else. Each of the
priests is in demand beyond parish confines. Fr. Lap has already
had extensive contact with Vietnamese migrants in Japan, especially in
Tokyo-Yokohama. Fr Cavaliere is the only Spanish-speaking priest
in the entire Kanagawa prefecture where there are thousands of Catholic
Latinos attending Mass in its many parishes.
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