Subject: 'austraLasia' #419

JAPANESE SALESIAN BISHOP CONSECRATED: UNITY IN THE SPIRIT

Luciano Capelli

SENDAI: 12th Sept -- After two years of patience search and waiting, the Sendai Diocese hasa new bishop in the person of Msgr. Francis Osamu Mizobe, SDB. He was consecrated on September 9, at 11:00 am in a very solemn yet simple ceremony, preside by the Archbishop of Tokyo, in the presence of the

papal Nuncio, the 15 bishops of the Japanese Church and about a hundred

priests, thirty of whom from the Sendai Diocese. A good number of

religious sisters and lay people took active part in the celebration:

some accompanied the bishop to be all the way from Nagasaki and Tokyo.

They represented the groups who have been working close to Him. Both the

Cathedral of Sendai and the Hotel main Hall were filled to capacity.

The Regional Superior with the provincial of Japan, his council and all

rectors together with some representatives from the region accompanied

Fr Mizobe to the altar.

Japanese hospitality was at his best from the reception to the very

end, with a lot of smiles and bows and of course some beautifully packed

"delicious" souvenirs.

During the Consecration ceremony and in His first holy Eucharist on

September 10, Msgr. Mizobe captured the heart of his people with the

simplicity of his fatherly approach straight "from the heart"...

The focus of his pastoral approach will be that of working for the "unity of the Spirit"

as expressed min the two Latin words on his Miter: "Unitatem...Spiritus"

On his first Holy Eucharist he introduced three missionaries and let

them speak on the presences he has helped open and maintain: the Solomon

Islands Mission, the Caritas school in PNG and the Caritas Santa Rosa

School in the Philippines.

The new Bishop with a missionary heart was very welcome and warmly

accepted by the Sendai Diocese

Best wishes to him for a fruitful apostolate