austraLasia #3132
Japan's Catholic Life reaches its 1000th edition
TOKYO 14 September 2012 -- The October edition of Salesian Japan's 'Catholic Life' (Katorikku Seikatsu) magazine is the thousandth such edition.
84 years have gone by since 24th May 1928 when Fr Cimatti, just a bare two years after arriving in Japan, published a pamphlet-sized item called 'Don Bosco' for the first time. It was a four page affair aimed at Christian and non-Christian alike in Miyazaki, where he was based and which was the starting point for the Salesian mission. 'Don Bosco' was also eventually known also as the 'Salesian Bulletin' and became an excellent form of communication on the part of the early Salesians as the Province gradually took shape.
During the War, but only for two years, 'Don Bosco' ceased publication but within three months of the conclusion to hostilities, in November 1945 the magazine resumed publication under a new name: The Mustard Seed, a name it kept until 1952 when it changed to the title it has kept ever since: Catholic Life. It had then reached its 273rd edition. Fr Federico Barbarom helped by Frs Dal Col and Mantegazza, were the editors at that point.
On Saturday 8 September 2012 at Tokyo's Salesian Meguro Parish, there was a special commemoration for the 1,000th edition. A solemn Mass with Archbishop Peter Okada as main celebrant, and some twenty other priests was celebrated in the presence of 200 faithful, a good number of whom collaborate directly in the publication. Fr Peter Sekiya, the current director of Don Bosco Sha, Salesian Publishers, presented the collaborators, many of whom are well-known in wider Japanese society. They are mainly lay people.
As is traditional for any Japanese festivities, the event was followed by a fraternal meal which further resolved the determination to continue with this magazine, which has undoubtedly been a powerful tool for the missionary apostolate in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Japan's Catholic Life reaches its 1000th edition
84 years have gone by since 24th May 1928 when Fr Cimatti, just a bare two years after arriving in Japan, published a pamphlet-sized item called 'Don Bosco' for the first time. It was a four page affair aimed at Christian and non-Christian alike in Miyazaki, where he was based and which was the starting point for the Salesian mission. 'Don Bosco' was also eventually known also as the 'Salesian Bulletin' and became an excellent form of communication on the part of the early Salesians as the Province gradually took shape.
During the War, but only for two years, 'Don Bosco' ceased publication but within three months of the conclusion to hostilities, in November 1945 the magazine resumed publication under a new name: The Mustard Seed, a name it kept until 1952 when it changed to the title it has kept ever since: Catholic Life. It had then reached its 273rd edition. Fr Federico Barbarom helped by Frs Dal Col and Mantegazza, were the editors at that point.
On Saturday 8 September 2012 at Tokyo's Salesian Meguro Parish, there was a special commemoration for the 1,000th edition. A solemn Mass with Archbishop Peter Okada as main celebrant, and some twenty other priests was celebrated in the presence of 200 faithful, a good number of whom collaborate directly in the publication. Fr Peter Sekiya, the current director of Don Bosco Sha, Salesian Publishers, presented the collaborators, many of whom are well-known in wider Japanese society. They are mainly lay people.
As is traditional for any Japanese festivities, the event was followed by a fraternal meal which further resolved the determination to continue with this magazine, which has undoubtedly been a powerful tool for the missionary apostolate in the Land of the Rising Sun.
