Sixty years of missionary life

Début de la JOC du P. Pierre Perrard

In 2024-2025, I am celebrating three milestones: the fiftieth anniversary of the Young Workers’ House in Tokyo with the Young Christian Workers (YCW), the sixtieth anniversary of my ordination and being sent to Japan, as well as sixty years of chaplaincy at the YCW in Japan. It will also be the centenary of the birth of the international YCW, created in the suburb of Laeken, in Brussels, by Father Cardijn and three young Belgian workers.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the YCW House in Tokyo, in October 2024, here is a message from a nun, Sister Kimiko of the Infant Jesus-Nicolas Barré: ‘For us adults, a year will always be a year, just as it is for any infant. But the growth of a baby in a year is such that anyone who sees it cannot help but think it’s incredible how much it has grown!’ At first sight, all that the baby is doing is just crying and feeding at its mother’s breast, but at the end it will be crawling and moving about using both hands.

Maison MEP de la JOC à Tokyo, Japon

So many changes!

It has been fifty years now since the Young Workers’ House, run by the Tokyo YCW, was established. I don’t know what the landscape was like when young people began organising this ‘house’; it must have resembled the first tentative steps of a baby discovering life. I am certain that many young people celebrated the birth of this space, as they learned to walk in step, to organise themselves, and to grow.

Recently, seven members of the current YCW came to spend some time in our community. They shared with us their challenges and discoveries, and what was most important in their lives. For them, the treasures to be gained were ‘friendship, the good relationships they have built between them, as well as their desire to share these with the ever-increasing number of young Vietnamese, Burmese, and Filipinos who are coming to work in Japan.’ Through their testimony, we understood that the YCW is striving to help young workers achieve their deepest desires: to live in dignity and build a new society. A society where mutual aid and brotherhood replace mere competitiveness.

I would like to pray that ‘Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life,’ accompanies each of you on the next stage of your journey; that your deepest desires may be fulfilled, and that the strength needed to build this new society may arise among you. On behalf of my entire religious community, I share your joy today and will support you in prayer.

Avec les jeunes de la JOC , Tokyo

Congratulations!

The second anniversary is that of my ordination in 1965 by Father Jean Vilnet, Bishop of Saint-Dié in the Vosges region.

That was sixty years ago. Shortly after, I left for Japan, the mission station entrusted to me. After a year and a half of Japanese language school in Tokyo, I set off for my final destination: Hakodate, a city of 250,000 people located in the far north of Japan, on the island of Hokkaido.

During my language training, I had the pleasure of spending time with a mountain-climbing group consisting of some YCW members from the parish of Tokuden (Tokyo), whose priest, Constant Louis, was himself a keen YCW chaplain. These young people helped me express myself using the little Japanese I knew. They listened to my experiences and were eager to help me take my first steps in this new world that is Japan. It was an unforgettable experience, a foundational one for my life as a missionary. I understood then that a missionary is someone who listens to what others are trying to express. Little by little, they become friends with those to whom they are sent. These young people quickly started calling me by my name, and not by my position, which is more often the norm here.

Life in the YCW was the daily routine of my mission, first in Hakodate, then in Sapporo with Father Jules Raud. After spending seven years with the International YCW in Brussels, I returned to Sapporo, before finally going to Tokyo, at the request of former YCW members who wanted to relaunch a group in the capital. The YCW had indeed disappeared due to a lack of motivated leaders and chaplains.

My life as a Christian and missionary, or simply as a disciple of the Jesus I love above all else, is inextricably linked to these sixty years of presence in Japan. The young people helped me discover the true meaning of ‘being a missionary.’ It has been a life of happiness, lived with passion.

The third anniversary marks the centenary of the recognition of the YCW by the episcopate of the Church in Belgium in 1925 and by Pope Pius XI. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Cardijn, then a young curate in the parish of Leaken, Brussels, the movement has spread across five continents. It has overcome many challenges, testifying to the ups and downs of growth, as well as the internal and external difficulties that any vibrant movement must face. Cardijn, who became a bishop, greatly influenced the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council with his ‘See, Judge, Act’ method of working, which was less emphasised during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, but which has been reinstated by the current Pope, Francis.

Delegations from around the world will gather in Brussels to celebrate this 100th anniversary, from May 1 to 7, 2025. This event will be a time of sharing, joy, and the start of a new chapter. The Japanese delegation will include thirty young workers.

However, not all have the means to fully finance their plane ticket or accommodation in Brussels. To support this large gathering, which is intended to be a celebration rich in memories and festivities, as well as a moment of renewal in their commitment to building a new world, that of the Kingdom of God, local religious congregations, parishes, individual donations, MEP colleagues, and the Paris Foreign Missions will be providing assistance.

Fr Pierre Perrard, MEP