Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Niigata (Agenzia Fides) – “A tsunami has hit our people. Is a tidal wave has come to overwhelm our lives. We are still in shock over what has happened. The news is mixed, but the diocese most affected is that of Sendai. Our Bishop, Bishop Isao Kikuchi, President of Caritas Japan, ensures us that as the Japanese Catholic community, though very small, we will not walk away from our commitment and our solidarity with the victims.” This is the latest news, issued to Fides by Fr Koichi Otaki, Japanese priest and chancellor of the Diocese of Niigata, within hours of the tsunami that struck northern Japan. “The tsunami reminds us of the precariousness of life. Solidarity and assistance to the victims will certainly be our Lenten commitment,” says the priest.
A ten-meter tsunami struck the coast of Sendai, the capital of the prefecture of Miyagi in north-eastern Japan, following several violent earthquakes registered off the coast of Japan.
Bishop Kikuchi is invested in the emergency. He had just returned to Japan after a meeting of Caritas Asia in Bangkok, where the Assembly elected a new president of Caritas Asia. The appointment will be ratified by the General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis in May in Rome.
The Director of Caritas Asia, Fr Bonnie Mendes, who reached Fides from Bangkok, said: We are in constant contact with the Caritas Japan, which is monitoring the situation, the damage and the victims. We hope that there are too many casualties. We expect to have a better understanding of the situation of displaced persons and their need to plan an emergency intervention.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/3/2011)
