Confirmation in Yamagata

On Sunday, 21 July, in Yamagata Parish, 32 people received the sacrament of Confirmation.

It was during my pastoral visit of the parish. I believe that "32" are the highest number to be confirmed by me within one parish in Niigata diocese since I became its bishop in 2004, though I had had experience of more than 200 confirmation during one Mass as a parish priest while I was in Osonson, Ghana.  But in Japan, within one parish and not for a kind of district combined event, 32 are quite big number for a diocese with only 7,000 Catholics out of population of 4 million.  I sincerely congratulate the parish priest, Fr. Honma, ss.cc., for his pastoral zeal and effort to give good formation to members of the parish while being a priest in charge of 3 parishes at this moment.

After the visitation of the parish, I was invited for a cup of tea at the convent of the Charity Sisters of Ottawa. The house is their formation house in Japan. One of them, a novice used to work for Caritas Japan.