Forthcoming Papal Visit to Japan in the Asian context
(Looking into His Visit via Two Key Concepts)
UENO Kagefumi / Civilizational Thinker
January 29, 2019
It was lately reported that Pope Francis will finally come to Japan in November this year---indeed 38 years after the previous papal visit by John Paul Ⅱ．To look into the context of Francis’s visit, two key concepts appear to be helpful----“the conscience of the international society” and “Pope who is attentive to Asia.” These concepts would help elucidate the backdrop and meaning of his visit.
First, I’d like to query why no pope ever came to Japan for the last 38 years. That’s very simple---because the Vatican gives low priority to Japan, as the proportion of the Catholics to the population there remains less than 1/200. Then why is the Pope, the ultimate head of the whole Catholic world, coming to this non-Catholic Japan? That’s because the Pope is, besides being a religious leader, “a diplomat par excellence” who incessantly gives messages and warnings to the international society on such secular issues as poverty, income inequality, immigration and refugees, and conflict resolution, which make him “a mentor” or ”the conscience” of the international society” as well as “a missionary of peace ”.
Let us look back at the remarks Pope Francis recently made as “the international conscience” , which may give us some clues as to the messages he will extend during his stay in Japan.
●The issues of poverty and income inequality are his biggest concerns. This Pope from South America, who consistently advocates that the Church should stand by the poor and shift their focus towards the South, is highly critical of the North’s materialistic way of life and the wide economic disparity between the North and the South. He intensifies his admonition that the rich countries should taper out the culture of greed, luxury and excessive consumption and return to modest life, extending help to the poor and the weak as well as refugees.
●Besides, he repeats his alarm on the uncontrollable violence of civil wars in, say, Syria and Yemen, and also advocates decisive denuclearization and control over international arms trade. As for denuclearization, he will, I assume, send a very strong message from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
●Pope Francis, who is very seriously concerned about the ongoing deterioration of global environment, demands that the North should fulfill their responsibility by rectifying the habit of exorbitant consumption and waste of resources.
●At his new year discourse on international affairs in early January to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, he sharply criticized the increasing number of political leaders who disregard multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, appealing for the re-appreciation of the role of multilateral diplomacy.
By and large, his messages as above seem agreeable to Japanese people, though some may sound harsh to them. In any event, as many international leaders pay respect to the Pope as “the conscience of the international society” , the messages he extends from Japan to the world would be seen to contain the essence of the meaning of his visit to Japan.
The Pope’s visit should also be seen in the context of “the Vatican-Asia relationship”.
In Asia where traditional religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are more or less dominant, the percentage of Catholic population is very low. Against this backdrop, the Vatican, a bastion of Euro-Centrism, so far paid little attention to Asia. Thus, by and large, the Vatican-Asia relationship remained inactive. That’s why previous Pope Benedict XVI, a very conservative traditionalist, never visited any Asian country during his tenure of 8 years. This started to change, since Francis, an advocate of the shift of the Church’s focus from the North to the South (i.e., Central and South America, Africa and Asia), assumed the papacy 6 years ago.
Since then, this Pope gave favorable consideration to Asia in terms of the promotion of high ranking clergies or the shaping of the papal overseas trips. And in September last year, the Vatican at last reached the historic agreement with the Chinese Government on the process of the nomination of bishops of the Chinese Catholic Church, long seen as the toughest nut to crack for both sides, paving the way for a process of institutional dialogue between the two. The Pope has made unstinting efforts over the past 6 years to shorten the moral distance between the Vatican and Asia. This should be more widely known as a background of the papal trip. His visit to Japan will be made in such a context.
It was indeed a surprise that President Xi Jingping recognized the Papal authority over the Chinese Catholic Church despite his persistent insistence on the furtherance of “the sinicization of religion” in China. This bold compromise was presumably an outcome of the highly political decision by President Xi to capitalize on the weighty presence of the Pope, a symbol of the West, as a way to mitigate the impact of Washington’s diplomatic offensive. It is, therefore, not accurate to criticize the Vatican, as some conservative Catholic clergies do, by saying that it was outwitted to make a one-sided concession in favor of China. Nonetheless, their concern about the Communist government is understandable as the Xi regime imposes harsher control over religions in China, not to mention their draconian oppression over Uighurs Islam in the Xinjiang province. It is thus important to carefully watch Beijing ---to see if it would act against the spirit of the agreement.
Incidentally, this Jesuit Pope appears to keep the DNA inherited from Xavier and Matteo Ricci, the Jesuits who pioneered the missionary work in Asia 5 centuries ago. In this sense, he may have “a special sentiment” towards the improvement of relations with China. This feeling might have prodded him forward a bit this time. Likewise, young Belgorio was keen to come to Japan to pursue missionary work. His application was, however, turned down because of his poor health. He may still keep a special sentiment towards Japan which might have prodded him a bit towards the forthcoming visit.
All in all, it will be exciting to observe the messages that the Pope extends from Japan.
UENO Kagefumi is former Ambassador to the Holy See
First, I’d like to query why no pope ever came to Japan for the last 38 years. That’s very simple---because the Vatican gives low priority to Japan, as the proportion of the Catholics to the population there remains less than 1/200. Then why is the Pope, the ultimate head of the whole Catholic world, coming to this non-Catholic Japan? That’s because the Pope is, besides being a religious leader, “a diplomat par excellence” who incessantly gives messages and warnings to the international society on such secular issues as poverty, income inequality, immigration and refugees, and conflict resolution, which make him “a mentor” or ”the conscience” of the international society” as well as “a missionary of peace ”.
Let us look back at the remarks Pope Francis recently made as “the international conscience” , which may give us some clues as to the messages he will extend during his stay in Japan.
●The issues of poverty and income inequality are his biggest concerns. This Pope from South America, who consistently advocates that the Church should stand by the poor and shift their focus towards the South, is highly critical of the North’s materialistic way of life and the wide economic disparity between the North and the South. He intensifies his admonition that the rich countries should taper out the culture of greed, luxury and excessive consumption and return to modest life, extending help to the poor and the weak as well as refugees.
●Besides, he repeats his alarm on the uncontrollable violence of civil wars in, say, Syria and Yemen, and also advocates decisive denuclearization and control over international arms trade. As for denuclearization, he will, I assume, send a very strong message from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
●Pope Francis, who is very seriously concerned about the ongoing deterioration of global environment, demands that the North should fulfill their responsibility by rectifying the habit of exorbitant consumption and waste of resources.
●At his new year discourse on international affairs in early January to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, he sharply criticized the increasing number of political leaders who disregard multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, appealing for the re-appreciation of the role of multilateral diplomacy.
By and large, his messages as above seem agreeable to Japanese people, though some may sound harsh to them. In any event, as many international leaders pay respect to the Pope as “the conscience of the international society” , the messages he extends from Japan to the world would be seen to contain the essence of the meaning of his visit to Japan.
The Pope’s visit should also be seen in the context of “the Vatican-Asia relationship”.
In Asia where traditional religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are more or less dominant, the percentage of Catholic population is very low. Against this backdrop, the Vatican, a bastion of Euro-Centrism, so far paid little attention to Asia. Thus, by and large, the Vatican-Asia relationship remained inactive. That’s why previous Pope Benedict XVI, a very conservative traditionalist, never visited any Asian country during his tenure of 8 years. This started to change, since Francis, an advocate of the shift of the Church’s focus from the North to the South (i.e., Central and South America, Africa and Asia), assumed the papacy 6 years ago.
Since then, this Pope gave favorable consideration to Asia in terms of the promotion of high ranking clergies or the shaping of the papal overseas trips. And in September last year, the Vatican at last reached the historic agreement with the Chinese Government on the process of the nomination of bishops of the Chinese Catholic Church, long seen as the toughest nut to crack for both sides, paving the way for a process of institutional dialogue between the two. The Pope has made unstinting efforts over the past 6 years to shorten the moral distance between the Vatican and Asia. This should be more widely known as a background of the papal trip. His visit to Japan will be made in such a context.
It was indeed a surprise that President Xi Jingping recognized the Papal authority over the Chinese Catholic Church despite his persistent insistence on the furtherance of “the sinicization of religion” in China. This bold compromise was presumably an outcome of the highly political decision by President Xi to capitalize on the weighty presence of the Pope, a symbol of the West, as a way to mitigate the impact of Washington’s diplomatic offensive. It is, therefore, not accurate to criticize the Vatican, as some conservative Catholic clergies do, by saying that it was outwitted to make a one-sided concession in favor of China. Nonetheless, their concern about the Communist government is understandable as the Xi regime imposes harsher control over religions in China, not to mention their draconian oppression over Uighurs Islam in the Xinjiang province. It is thus important to carefully watch Beijing ---to see if it would act against the spirit of the agreement.
Incidentally, this Jesuit Pope appears to keep the DNA inherited from Xavier and Matteo Ricci, the Jesuits who pioneered the missionary work in Asia 5 centuries ago. In this sense, he may have “a special sentiment” towards the improvement of relations with China. This feeling might have prodded him forward a bit this time. Likewise, young Belgorio was keen to come to Japan to pursue missionary work. His application was, however, turned down because of his poor health. He may still keep a special sentiment towards Japan which might have prodded him a bit towards the forthcoming visit.
All in all, it will be exciting to observe the messages that the Pope extends from Japan.
UENO Kagefumi is former Ambassador to the Holy See
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
ローマ法王来日とアジア （来日を紐解く２つのキーワード）
上野 景文 / 文明論考察家
2019年 1月 29日
本年１１月、ローマ法王の来日が38年ぶりに実現する運びだ。このフランシスコ法王来日を紐解く上でのキーワードとして、「国際的良心」、「アジアに目を向けた法王」を挙げたい。これらを介することで、法王来日の意味、背景は浮き彫りとなろう。
先ず問いたい。３８年もの間法王来日がなかったのは何故か。それは、日本のカトリック教徒が人口の1/200と低水準にあることから、バチカンの対日関心度が高くなかったからに他ならない。では、そんな日本をカトリック世界の頂点に立つ法王は何故訪問するのか？それは、ローマ法王は「宗教指導者」であるだけでなく、世界でも「屈指の外交官」としての顔も持つからだ。法王は、貧困と格差、移民・難民問題、紛争の終結などの世俗的な諸問題につき国際社会にたえず警鐘を鳴らす「ご意見番」、「国際社会の良心」、「平和の使者」である。
この「国際的良心」としてのフランシスコ法王の最近の言動を振り返ってみよう。法王が日本から国際社会に発するメッセージが占えそうだ。
●最重要テーマは貧困と格差の問題だ。南米出身で、「教会は貧しい人に寄り添い、軸足を『南』にシフトせよ」と説く法王は、南北の経済格差、先進国の「物質主義」を絶えず批判。「富裕国は、欲望と贅沢、過剰消費を断ち、質素な生活に戻り、貧困者・弱者・難民に手を差し伸べよ」と、厳しい指摘を続ける。
●同時に、法王は、シリア、イエメン等での内戦、非核化、武器の国際的取引などにつき警鐘を鳴らし続ける。核問題については、広島、長崎から強いメッセージを発することになろう。
●また、現下の地球環境劣化に危機感を有する法王は、先進国が過剰消費、資源浪費を改めよと、先進国の責任に迫る。
●更にこの１月、バチカン駐在外交団を前に、法王は、国連等の国際機関を軽んじる政治指導者が増えている点に苦言を呈し、多国間外交の重要性を訴えた。
これらの主張は、我々の耳に痛いものを含むが、概ね日本人に共感できるものだ。「国際社会の良心」として多くの国の指導者から一目おかれる法王が、日本滞在中に世界に向けて発するメッセージに来日の意味が凝縮されると言えよう。
次に、「バチカンとアジアの関係」に触れる。仏教、ヒンドゥー、イスラムなどが根強いアジアでは、カトリックの浸透度は概して低い。「欧州中心主義」の牙城でもあるバチカンのアジアへの関心は、従って、これまで低く、両者は総じて「疎遠」であった。伝統保守色の強い前法王ベネディクト１６世は在位８年の間アジアを訪問しなかった。だが、「南」（＝中南米、アフリカ、アジア）へ軸足のシフトが必要と説くフランシスコ法王が６年前に就任すると、バチカンの対アジア関係は変わり始めた。
同法王は就任以来、高位聖職者の人事や外遊先選定につき、アジアに配慮を示し、更に昨秋には、中国政府との間で、難題中の難題と言われた司教任命権問題を巡って「歴史的合意」を達成し、もって、バチカンと北京の間に対話のパイプを築いた。このように、この６年間法王がアジアとの「心の距離」短縮に腐心して来た点は、来日の背景として、もっと知られていい。法王来日はかかる流れの中で実現される訳だ。
ところで、「宗教の中国化」にこだわる習近平政権が、中国カトリック教会に対するローマ法王の権威を認めたことは驚きであった。この大胆な妥協は、米国の外交攻勢に直面する中で、法王の世界的存在感に着目した同政権が、これを利用すべく打ち出した政治色の強い決断であったと見る。バチカンだけが譲歩させられたとの一部保守派の批判は当たらないが、習政権が、新彊でのイスラムの過酷な弾圧を含め、宗教面での引き締めを一段と強めている現状に照らせば、保守派の対中不信には肯ける面があり、中国が今回の合意の精神に反する行動に出ないか、注視する必要がある。
なお、イエズス会出身のフランシスコ法王は、ザビエル、マテオ・リッチなどの先達がアジアに進出して以来のイエズス会のＤＮＡを継承しているためか、対中関係改善に「特別の思い」がある趣で、それが今回の合意を促した面は否定できない。同じ思いから、若き日のベルゴリオは、日本での宣教を志願したが、健康上の理由から叶わなかった。が、この日本への思いが来日を促した面も否定できない。
だから、法王が日本から発するメッセージ、今から楽しみだ。
筆者は元駐バチカン大使
先ず問いたい。３８年もの間法王来日がなかったのは何故か。それは、日本のカトリック教徒が人口の1/200と低水準にあることから、バチカンの対日関心度が高くなかったからに他ならない。では、そんな日本をカトリック世界の頂点に立つ法王は何故訪問するのか？それは、ローマ法王は「宗教指導者」であるだけでなく、世界でも「屈指の外交官」としての顔も持つからだ。法王は、貧困と格差、移民・難民問題、紛争の終結などの世俗的な諸問題につき国際社会にたえず警鐘を鳴らす「ご意見番」、「国際社会の良心」、「平和の使者」である。
この「国際的良心」としてのフランシスコ法王の最近の言動を振り返ってみよう。法王が日本から国際社会に発するメッセージが占えそうだ。
●最重要テーマは貧困と格差の問題だ。南米出身で、「教会は貧しい人に寄り添い、軸足を『南』にシフトせよ」と説く法王は、南北の経済格差、先進国の「物質主義」を絶えず批判。「富裕国は、欲望と贅沢、過剰消費を断ち、質素な生活に戻り、貧困者・弱者・難民に手を差し伸べよ」と、厳しい指摘を続ける。
●同時に、法王は、シリア、イエメン等での内戦、非核化、武器の国際的取引などにつき警鐘を鳴らし続ける。核問題については、広島、長崎から強いメッセージを発することになろう。
●また、現下の地球環境劣化に危機感を有する法王は、先進国が過剰消費、資源浪費を改めよと、先進国の責任に迫る。
●更にこの１月、バチカン駐在外交団を前に、法王は、国連等の国際機関を軽んじる政治指導者が増えている点に苦言を呈し、多国間外交の重要性を訴えた。
これらの主張は、我々の耳に痛いものを含むが、概ね日本人に共感できるものだ。「国際社会の良心」として多くの国の指導者から一目おかれる法王が、日本滞在中に世界に向けて発するメッセージに来日の意味が凝縮されると言えよう。
次に、「バチカンとアジアの関係」に触れる。仏教、ヒンドゥー、イスラムなどが根強いアジアでは、カトリックの浸透度は概して低い。「欧州中心主義」の牙城でもあるバチカンのアジアへの関心は、従って、これまで低く、両者は総じて「疎遠」であった。伝統保守色の強い前法王ベネディクト１６世は在位８年の間アジアを訪問しなかった。だが、「南」（＝中南米、アフリカ、アジア）へ軸足のシフトが必要と説くフランシスコ法王が６年前に就任すると、バチカンの対アジア関係は変わり始めた。
同法王は就任以来、高位聖職者の人事や外遊先選定につき、アジアに配慮を示し、更に昨秋には、中国政府との間で、難題中の難題と言われた司教任命権問題を巡って「歴史的合意」を達成し、もって、バチカンと北京の間に対話のパイプを築いた。このように、この６年間法王がアジアとの「心の距離」短縮に腐心して来た点は、来日の背景として、もっと知られていい。法王来日はかかる流れの中で実現される訳だ。
ところで、「宗教の中国化」にこだわる習近平政権が、中国カトリック教会に対するローマ法王の権威を認めたことは驚きであった。この大胆な妥協は、米国の外交攻勢に直面する中で、法王の世界的存在感に着目した同政権が、これを利用すべく打ち出した政治色の強い決断であったと見る。バチカンだけが譲歩させられたとの一部保守派の批判は当たらないが、習政権が、新彊でのイスラムの過酷な弾圧を含め、宗教面での引き締めを一段と強めている現状に照らせば、保守派の対中不信には肯ける面があり、中国が今回の合意の精神に反する行動に出ないか、注視する必要がある。
なお、イエズス会出身のフランシスコ法王は、ザビエル、マテオ・リッチなどの先達がアジアに進出して以来のイエズス会のＤＮＡを継承しているためか、対中関係改善に「特別の思い」がある趣で、それが今回の合意を促した面は否定できない。同じ思いから、若き日のベルゴリオは、日本での宣教を志願したが、健康上の理由から叶わなかった。が、この日本への思いが来日を促した面も否定できない。
だから、法王が日本から発するメッセージ、今から楽しみだ。
筆者は元駐バチカン大使
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟