Japanese Bishop: FABC's General Conference provides "pastoral perspective" of the church

A Japanese bishop who attended the ongoing general conference in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), says it provides a "pastoral perspective" of the church.

"I have been learning many things. Among them, I strongly feel the effort of all bishops and participants to strengthen the ‘pastoral perspective’ of our church in line with Pope Francis through the Synod," said Divine Word Bishop Paul Daisuke Narui of Niigata, Japan.

He was one of the delegates of the program and left for Japan on October 20 due to his pastoral commitments in his diocese in the coming week.

Catholic bishops from 29 countries in Asia and guests from the Vatican are attending the two-week FABC events from October 12. It will end on October 30.

From Japan, Divine Word Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda, Bishop Bernard Taiji Katsuya of Sapporo, Sister Hirota as representative of Talitha Kum Japan, and Bishop Narui are taking part in the FABC events.

"I am leaving for Japan today (October 20) to participate in the Diocesan Assembly, which will be held on the coming Sunday, October 23," Bishop Narui said.

To replace him at the FABC events, Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki will arrive on October 20.

"There is a lot to learn from the state of churches in various countries, but one thing that I feel strongly about is that churches in every country are cultivating Pope Francis' vision of the church, one step at a time in the synod," said Bishop Narui.

On October 18, Archbishop Kikuchi shared a reflection day on "Fratelli Tutti" (all brothers), which is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, published in October 2020. On the same day, online sharing on youth included Father Akira Takayama of Takamatsu diocese, Japan, among others.