‘Bombed Mary’ to visit Guernica, Vatican with Nagasaki priests

 

NAGASAKI, Oct. 28 (AP) – (Kyodo)—Priests of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki will take the “bombed Mary,” a statue damaged in the wartime U.S. atomic bombing of the city, on a pilgrimage to Guernica, Spain, and the Vatican next year, archbishop Mitsuaki Takami said Wednesday.

It will be the third overseas trip for the roughly 26-centimeter-high scorched wooden head of a Virgin Mary statue found in the ruins of Urakami Cathedral, about 500 meters from ground zero, following trips to the Vatican in 1985 and Belarus in 2000.

During the tour from April 20 to May 1, the group, including regular followers, will attend a mass and a ceremony to commemorate victims of the 1937 carpet bombing of Guernica by German forces and have an audience in the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI, he said.

“We should never repeat such a cruel war and hope to call for peace from the nonviolent standpoint,” Takami said in a press conference in Nagasaki.

source

St. Damien of Molokai

He was Fr. Damien then Blessed Damien and today, October 11, he is Saint Damien.  EWTN aired the canonization mass which I remembered half an hour after it was over

Here is one of many articles covering the event.

Here is an article about a painting of Fr … I mean Saint Damien that was given to the Pope.   The late artist had Lou Gehrig`s disease but she did an amazing job.

Ex Finance Minster Found Dead

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — Shoichi Nakagawa, who resigned as Japanese finance minister in February amid accusations of drunken behavior during an international conference in Rome, was found dead in his Tokyo home yesterday. He was 56.

One of many articles on this story.  Another is here

Mr Nakagawa was infamous for a very drunken looking press conference but also for exhibiting drunken behaviour at the Vatican Museum such as sitting down against the  Laocoon statue, touching some of the art, and for opening an emergency exit door.  My original post on that is here.  I will include intentions  for his soul and for comfort for his wife and children when I say my chaplet of Divine Mercy today.

Update

An autopsy on former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has detected numerous anomalies in his cardiovascular system as well as the presence of alcohol, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

article

No. of suicides in Japan reaches 22,000 in Jan-Aug

TOKYO —

The number of people who committed suicide in Japan from January through August came to 22,362, an increase of 971 or 4.5% from a year earlier, a National Police Agency report showed Monday. If the current pace continues the annual figure could match the record of 34,427 marked in 2003. Of the total during the eight-month period, 16,008 were men and 6,354 women, according to the preliminary survey.

article

Reducing the number of suicides requires bringing people hope and, of course, since Im Catholic that hope is based in Jesus who, for one example,  in confession absolves us of our sins and by doing so gives us renewed hope.    Pope Benedict speaks of hope many times  and on many occasions.  His latest was several days ago during a homily in the Czech Republic.

Dear friends, regarding the character of today’s liturgical assembly, I gladly supported the decision, mentioned by your Bishop, to base the Scripture readings for Mass on the theme of hope: I supported it in consideration of the people of this beloved land as well as Europe and the whole of humanity, thirsting as it does for something on which to base a firm future. In my second Encyclical, Spe Salvi, I emphasized that the only “certain” and “reliable” hope (cf. no. 1) is founded on God.

History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions, and how hard it is to build a society inspired by the values of goodness, justice and fraternity, because the human being is free and his freedom remains fragile. Freedom has constantly to be won over for the cause of good, and the arduous search for the “right way to order human affairs” is a task that belongs to all generations (cf. ibid., 24-25). That, dear friends, is why our first reason for being here is to listen, to listen to a word that will show us the way that leads to hope; indeed, we are listening to the only word that can give us firm hope, because it is God’s word.

I strongly encourage everyone to read the rest of the homily click here

Pope Given Catholic Encyclopedia in Japanese

It took thirty years to make and is around 6000 pages long.  Here are two short articles each with different info on the endeavour.

article 1

article 2

Second Worldwide Rosary for Unborn October 16-18

The second annual Worldwide Rosary for Unborn Babies is scheduled to take place from Friday Oct. 16 to Sunday Oct. 18.

Participants in the event will pray at least one Rosary on any of these days for the intention of an end to the killing of the unborn.

St. Michael the Archangel Organization is also seeking volunteers to publicize the Worldwide Rosary and to translate information into other languages.

The group’s website is here

above article from here

Blue LEDs for Suicide Prevention

JR to install ’soothing’ blue LEDS on Yamanote Line platforms to prevent suicides

As a measure to prevent suicides at train platforms, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) has announced it will install “emotionally soothing” blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on all platforms on its Yamanote Line by the end of October.

Although seven Yamanote Line stations, including Tokyo, Yurakucho and Osaki, already have blue LEDs on their platforms, JR East will install the lights at 58 spots at all 29 stations on the line by the end of next month at a cost of 20 million yen.

However, whether blue LEDs are actually effective in preventing suicides hasn’t been scientifically proven, but some say they are expected to “help relieve mental stress and soothe the mind.”

full article

I`m in favor working to prevent suicides but this measure costs 20 million yen and has not been scientifically proven and there`s one more problem.  What if the suicidal person is color blind and can’t see blue?  Tough luck for them I guess.  I think ads with a free phone number to call that connects the caller to a help line would be far more useful.

Pope Invited to South Korea

I am still waiting to hear of any official invitation by Prime Minister Aso to His Holiness to visit Japan.  In the meantime South Korea has made the offer and the official Vatican reply was that the Pope will visit “at an appropriate date.’

ROME ― Pope Benedict XVI will visit South Korea “at an appropriate date” to encourage Catholic churches and praise their efforts to protect the rights of the underprivileged, a presidential spokesman said Thursday.

During a courtesy call on the Pope in the Vatican, President Lee Myung-bak invited him to visit South Korea. The Pope accepted the invitation, saying he will visit Seoul at an appropriate time, the spokesman said.

article

It seems likely then that the Pope could visit both countries but if for some reason he didn’t come here and only went to Korea I`ll still go see him.

Here is a short video of their meeting and of the South Korean first lady`s break with Vatican protocol.  This article says that white is to be worn by Catholic queens and all other women must wear black.

Prime Minister Aso Meets with Pope Benedict

The first articles and images are starting to come out so I will keep this post updated as more info becomes available.  No papal visit announcement so far.  This article in English pretty much sums up all that is being reported right now in the Japanese articles.

source

PM Aso gave the Pope a video camera.

above two photos from here

Updated to add this Japanese news video link here

Updated to add the following reuters photos

Updated to add the possible make and model of the video camera.  CNet and Sony Insider claim its a Sony HDR-XR500V HandyCam.   Link Just in case you want to go to Yodobashi camera and see the camera for yourself.

Updated to add the following video (in English)  about their meeting and the gifts.

In the Pope`s private library.

The Pope presented Taro Aso with a pen.

In the Pope`s private library.

According to one article PM Aso did not kiss the Pope`s ring.

In Japan, a Minnesota monastic community thrives

But unlike many if not most Catholic monasteries, whether in the West or elsewhere, Trinity is thriving and growing. This month, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, it welcomed an unprecedented four new candidates into its modest ranks, re-energizing its ranks and — by extension — this little-known outpost of Minnesota’s biggest, and most famous, monastic community.

snip

To outsiders, this may seem obvious. In fact, it was obvious to insiders, too. But it’s one thing to suggest that a culture needs to change, and another matter altogether to actually change it. Nonetheless, last year — with great effort, and after much discussion — the monks at Trinity made the decision to shift the monastery’s culture — especially in the dining room (second in importance to the chapel — which had benefited from a Japanese liturgy for years. Japanese cuisine became a more regular facet of the Trinity dining experience; chopsticks began to appear at the common tables and, most significantly, conversations were translated from Japanese into English, and not — as had long been the practice — from English into Japanese.

Father Edward Vebelun, 41, a still boyish native of Ohio who was trained as a priest in a Japanese seminary, describes the transition as a revelation. “From there, the flood gates really opened for us.”

full article here

The monastery`s website in English is here.