CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

The Toronto Japanese-Catholic Community

By Roy Sakaguchi
March 2005

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On the second Sunday of each month, a little bit of Japan descends upon Toronto as Japanese voices are raised in praise to God. The voices belong to the members of the Toronto Japanese-Catholic Community, a small gathering of 15-20 families who have been celebrating mass together every month for the past 25 years.

The community had its beginnings in 1979 when a small group of Japanese Catholics living in Toronto gathered for the first time at Scarboro Missions to celebrate mass. Scarboro had been sending missioners to Japan since 1948 and wanted to reach out to Japanese Canadians in Toronto.

Fr. Tom O'Toole recalls, "Scarboro decided to advertise a monthly mass in the Japanese newspapers so that Japanese Canadians could meet each other, share their experiences and receive the Sacraments."

For the first time in Toronto, we could hear the Scriptures read and the homily given in Japanese. Scarboro Missions generously provided their priest missioners who were home from mission and could speak Japanese, and their chapel and dining room for socializing after mass.

The community's first chaplain was Fr. Bill Schultz, followed by Fr. John Bolger and Fr. Clair Yaeck. As each returned to mission, other priests stepped in. In 1990, Fr. Tom O'Toole and Fr. Gerald Curry began jointly looking after the community.

Reflecting on his experience, Fr. Gerry says, "When I returned from mission in Japan, I was happy to accompany and serve the Toronto Japanese-Catholic Community because of its connections to my overseas mission work. I was glad to stay in contact with the people, culture and language that I grew to love during my years in Japan."

Fr. Tom, now retired, continues to help out at our masses. "This is a chance to keep up my Japanese," he says, "and to share in activities such as the after-mass suppers and the annual picnic at Scarboro's farm in Omemee, Ontario, where I reside."

The latest chaplains are Fr. John Carten and Fr. Alex McDonald. Throughout the years, most of the Scarboro priests who served in Japan have joined us whenever possible.

In these 25 years, the community has celebrated the baptism of several adults and six babies, and the ordination of one of our early members, Gene Shin, to the diocesan priesthood in 1996. We have made bus pilgrimages to the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland and other well-known shrines. There have been retreats and bible studies. And for the past 10 years, we have held our annual picnics at Scarboro's farm.

We have fond memories of helping out at the annual fall bazaar, a Scarboro Missions event that took place for many years. We also participated in Scarboro's 75th anniversary celebrations in November 1993, at which each mission country was represented. Our group prepared a display of the traditional foods, artifacts and clothing of Japan.

This unique relationship between the Community and Scarboro Missions has blossomed over these 25 years. Thanks to the generosity of Scarboro Missions, the Japanese-Catholic Community continues to be a blessing to Japanese and non-Japanese members alike.

Roy Sakaguchi and his wife Etsumi are members of the Toronto Japanese-Catholic Community. Roy, now retired, generously volunteers his time at Scarboro Missions' central house, coordinating material for the website.

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