Toronto Japanese Catholic Community Toronto ON

We are a small Catholic community of Japanese descent or related by marriage. Most members are permanent residents of Canada living in the Toronto area. But we welcome all visitors.

Purpose of Community

The purpose of this Community is to provide spiritual and mutual support in Japanese. Specifically, the purpose is three fold:

to be a support for Japanese Catholics who live in the Toronto area and encourage one another to be involved in their local parish community,

to be a support and source of hospitality for Japanese Catholics who come to spend a period of time in Canada,

to be a source of contact to introduce Japanese non-Christians to the Catholic Church.

We have monthly gatherings, normally on the second Sunday of each month with a 4:00 pm Mass celebrated in Japanese at Scarboro Missions. Mass is followed by dinner with an opportunity to socialize. On special occasions like Christmas, we have a pot-luck dinner and party.

 

Download Toronto Japanese Catholic Community vCard with Mass Times

Click here to contact the church  

Download Chaplain Rev. John Carten S.F.M. vCard

Click here to contact Rev. John Carten S.F.M.  

Montreal Japanese Catholic Community  

https://www.scarboromissions.ca  

 

 

Take bus #68(A & B) north bound from TTC Warden Station.
Get of at the 3rd stop, Fairfax Crescent.
Presentation Manor locates at south west corner of Warden Ave. and Fairfax Crescent.  

Visitors parking is available outside behind the building.
Park across the street, just beyond the building, in the parking lot of the school.  

 

124-61 Fairfax Crescent, Toronto, Ontario, M1L 1Z7  

 

Several attempts were made in the mid-1970's to start a faith community for the Japanese Catholics in the Toronto area to gather, share experiences and encourage each other's faith. Finally in 1979, a Community was started with Fr. Bill Schultz, a Scarboro Missions priest as our first chaplain.

By the grace of God, Scarboro Missions (SFM) generously provided the necessary spiritual and physical resources. Their own priests (back from missionary work in Japan) celebrate Mass in Japanese for us, including the homily. Confession and other spiritual guidance are also available in Japanese. Other facilities are also available to us at SFM, e.g., dining room where we share the evening meal.

The current schedule of gathering on the second Sunday of each month for mass at 4 pm followed by dinner was adopted in 1982.

Besides our monthly gatherings, we have also conducted other activities over the years. On a spiritual level, we have held retreats and bible studies. With the permission of the local parish, we have celebrated numerous baptisms over the years. We even had ordinations from amongst our membership. One of the early members, Gene Shin, was ordained a diocesan priest in 1996 (see photo in Sacraments/Holy Orders). Most recently, John Meehan was ordained a Jesuit deacon in April 2009 (see photo below) - and expected to be ordained a priest in May 2010). Some years ago, John spent 6 summers teaching English near Tokyo.

On a social level, we have had picnics or bus pilgrimages to famous shrines (such as Martyrs' Shrine in Midland). In the earlier years, we actively participated in SFM's Annual Bazaar with our own Japanese booth, raising money by selling Japanese food, raffle tickets and various handicrafts contributed by our members.

We also participated in the SFM's 75th Anniversary in 1993 with representation by all countries where SFM works. Our Community prepared a display of traditional foods, artifacts and clothing of Japan (see photo below). To a smaller extent, we also contributed to their 90th Anniversary at the Nov. 9, 2008 Mass of Thanksgiving. So over many years, we have been privileged to have a very special relationship with Scarboro Missions.

SFM Chaplains of our Community

1979 - 1980, Fr. Bill Schultz (died 1986) [25 years in Japan] 1980 - 1988, Fr. John Bolger (died 1997) [32 years in Japan] 1988 - 1990, Fr. Clair Yaeck (died 1996) [22 years in Japan] 2004 - 2010 Fr. Alex McDonald (died 2010) [52 years in Japan] 1990 - 1998, Fr. Gerry Curry [14 years in Japan] 1990 - present, Fr. Tom O'Toole [29 years in Japan] 2002 - present, Fr. John Carten [26 years in Japan] 2005 - present, Fr. Jim Gauthier [30 years in Japan]

Other SFM and Japanese Priests associated with our Community

1990 - 1992, Fr. Thomas Morrissey (died 1992) [40 yrs in Japan] 2000 - 2003, Fr. David Fitzpatrick (died 2003) [46 years in Japan] 2002 - 2003, Fr. Michael Cox (died 2003) [50 years in Japan] 2000 - 2006, Fr. Frank Hawkshaw (died 2009) [42 years in Japan] 1993 - 1994, Fr. T. Yanagida, SJ, currently teaching at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima 2003 - 2004, Fr. Takeshi Inoue, CSsR, currently pastor in Maizuru 2005 - 2008, Fr. Yukitoshi Ichioka, currently pastor of Iwata, Shizuoka-ken

Chairpersons of our Community

1979 - 1981, Various persons for different meetings P. Miki, M. Fujimoto, H. Suzuka, R. Sakaguchi 1982 - 1983, Ayako Keogh 1984 - 1985, Roy Sakaguchi 1986 - 1988, Anthony Liliefeldt 1989 - 1991, John Takahashi 1992 - 1997, Roy Sakaguchi 1998 - 1999, Mariko Liliefeldt 2000 - 2017, Roy Sakaguchi