Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tokyo (Agenzia Fides) – Taro Aso’s decision to run for Premier has sparked the curiosity and attention of Japanese citizens, the Christian churches, and the international press. Aso is currently serving as Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. Elections are scheduled to take place at the end of October. Interest has arisen from the candidate’s personality, and most of all, from the well-known fact that he is a member of the Catholic Church, which in the city of Sol Levante has 1 million faithful, out of 128 million inhabitants.
As he goes campaigning, in the aftermath of the political crisis that the country has suffered, Aso has not given much importance to his religious affiliation, focusing on the fact that today the priority for Japan is economic growth and in its foreign policy, form a close alliance with the United States.
However, analysts have not ignored the fact that the Aso family, related to the royal family, has ancient Catholic traditions that date back to the island of Kyushu, site of the first Christian evangelization effort in the 16th century and later, in the 19th.
Aso’s Christian name is “Francis,” named after the great missionary St. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit who evangelized Eastern Asia and is one of the Patrons of the Missions.
The presence of a Catholic in the country’s governing could shed new light on the Catholic community, offering it the chance to be better known and to better fulfill its mission. The Church in Japan continues to bear witness in a society now marked by consumerism and new technology (see Fides 13/5/2008 and 26/7/2008). However, as several media sources have indicated, Aso will not be the first Catholic to occupy this position. Former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira (1979-80) was also Catholic. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 22/9/2008)
