MISSIONARIES OF THE SACRED HEART

ASIA, PACIFIC ISLANDS AND AUSTRALIA - APIA

• FIRST MSC APIA CONSULTATION ON JUSTICE AND PEACE AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION

 
• JAPANESE BISHOPS APPEAL ON BEHALF OF FOREIGNERS IN DETENTION

STATEMENT

We, participants to the First MSC APIA Justice and Peace Consultation, gathered together at the Communication Foundation for Asia, Manila, Philippines on May 1 - 9, 1997, express our heartfelt gratitude to the Superiors of the MSC APIA Region and to the MSC General Administration for calling us together for this consultation on our MSC Charism and Mission for Justice and Peace. With varying degrees of awareness and experience of the work for Justice and Peace, we have come with the desire to learn more and to be more deeply involved in this important dimension of our MSC Charisma.

Our Journey.

We have travelled a long way across Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia.

And then, we began with some exposure experience by marching with the workers on the streets of Manila on Workers' Day (May 1) and by listening to their stories of oppression and struggles for a better life in the picket line in a Nestle factory and in a workers' development and educational institute in Angeles City, Pampanga. We have lived in the homes of the peasant-farmers and some indigenous Filipinos and felt the injustice and exploitation committed against them and their land in Lupao, Nueva Ecija. Visiting the site of the peasant massacre was a moving experience for all of us.

These exposure experiences led us on a journey of discovery as we began to raise questions as to what it means to be Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in our world today. The experiences of great poverty and serious injustice made us ask: "What kind of a world do we live in today?" They also led us to question the comfort and affluence of our present life style.

The exposure experiences touched us deeply and made the invisible forces of injustice become visible in the faces of the people we met-men and women, peasants, workers, indigenous people, the young and the children. As we listened to the voices of all these people, we asked ourselves: "Who is listening?"

Then we returned to Manila. There we listened to talks and reflections on our MSC Charism and Mission, the biblical concept of Justice and Peace and the place of the prophets in the life of God's people and in our life as religious. We shared our perceptions on our respective country situations and our analysis of the present Asian and global realities. And we began to put together the cornerstones for an MSC APIA Solidarity for Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation.

Our Discovery.

We have seen the richness of our diversity and uniqueness. We have discovered too our common lot of poverty and injustice in the midst of so much human potential and creativity on the one hand, and material wealth and prosperity on the other. Inspired by our founder, Fr. Jules Chevalier, analyzing the causes of this scandal of injustice in our region and in the world at large, humbled by the struggles of the poor of our region, and contemplating on the Heart of Jesus, we are challenged, as religious, to live the Church's prophetic heritage and to share a common vision and mission for Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation.

Now we know of the deep conviction of Fr. Jules Chevalier regarding a new world emerging from the pierced Heart of Jesus, a world watered by Justice and Peace. Now we know of the great prophetic heritage of religious life that is to be the sign, the parable and miracle?no matter how provisional?of Christ's prophetic ministry in our time for the event of God's Reign. Now we know that the present international relations and social arrangements which globalization has called the new order only enrich the very few and impoverish the majority, deprive nations and the poor of their lands and patrimony, while teaching them the ways of violence and unpeace, especially in our APIA Region. And having witnessed the rising of the poor to meet the life- threatening assaults of globalization against humanity and Mother Nature, we are challenged to deepen our ties with the people of the land through immersion and exposure experiences, to strengthen our bonds of solidarity with the poor and with one another, and to make the conscientization for Justice and Peace an essential and integral dimension in our life, mission and formation.
With Fr. Jules Chevalier, we believe that Justice and Peace is the alternative vision of life for all, a communion with God, with one another and with all of creation. It describes the quality of life in the Reign of God, the coming of a new heaven and a new earth. It is in this sense that we have learned to believe that our human participation in the saving works of God in our time, and our compassion for the world of today must be a conscious choice, a preferential option for the poor and an engagement in liberating and transforming action.

Some may think that, because issues of justice can be conflictual, involve one in politics and stir feelings of anger, it is not appropriate for MSCs. However justice is not alien to our MSC charism. Properly understood, justice is that aspect of love which urges us to fight for the rights and dignity of all our brothers and sisters in the family of God. It is grounded in the scriptures and in the actions of Jesus himself. The call to work for justice and to be concerned for the poor is very much part of the prophetic charism shared by all religious in the Church today, and more specifically, by us Missionaries of the Sacred Heart as we contemplate on the compassionate Heart of Jesus.

Our Stand.

Consequently, we reject the schemes of globalization as imposed by the powerful nationstates and monopolistic multinational and transnational conglomerates for it makes a god out of the neo-liberal market. We also refuse to collaborate with the system which globalization has produced and intends to reproduce.

We lament the fact that, although a number of our MSC Provinces have been outstanding in their option for the poor and their concern for justice, other Provinces have been slow to move into this aspect of our mission with energy and purpose. We would like to affirm the call already made by those who attended the Cor Novum Justice and Peace course in 1996 that: "Central to our MSC Charism as we move toward the 3rd Millennium must be our commitment to a new world order of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation."

Furthermore, we support the full implementation of the APIA Superiors' Statement on Contextualization, Inculturation and Justice and Peace (Fiji, August 1996).

We are particularly concerned that we, the Provinces and Regions of the APIA region, must from now on make a concerted effort to be at the forefront of the struggle for justice and concern for the poor. The situation facing our APIA region calls for serious socioeconomic analysis and serious prophetic action. The mission of justice and peace and the option for the poor must be a constitutive dimension of our formation, our life, and our ministries.

Our Call.

To this end we call on
1. our Provincials and Superiors

(a) to keep this vision before the eyes of all our members;

(b) to set up Justice and Peace desks in their areas;

(c) to arrange for APIA consultations on J&P every 3 years;

(d) to provide support for those engaged in special J&P ministries;

(e) to continue to explore some forms of MSC APIA cooperation and solidarity work for Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation.

2. our Formators

(a) to inspire our young MSCs with a Christ-like love for the poor that involves the concern for justice;

(b) to involve our young MSCs in experiences which expose them to poverty and injustice;

(c) to make sure that our MSC students have Courses in such as sociology, social analysis and basic economics so that they can understand the situation in which they live and are empowered to do contextual theology.

(d) to incorporate Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation concerns and issues in the APIA Spirituality and Formation Seminars and other APIA activities.

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved, now and forever!

Malcolm Fyfe, MSC /John Park, MSC / Claude Mostowik, MSC / Benjamin E. Alforque, MSC / Edwin Borlasa, MSC / Lambert Somar, MSC / Jos Pontoan, MSC / Hans Kwakman, MSC / Rudy Abao, MSC / Rey Tibon, MSC / Kevin Barr, MSC / Fabian Misili, MSC / Klaus Sanders, MSC
 

 Signed by CBCJ presider' Bishop Stephen Fumio Hamao of Yokohama, Their Nov 21 letter addressed to Justice Minister Kokichi Shimoinaba said that in experience in working with migrants, Japan's Catholic Church has found prison standards in the country below international levels and lacking in sensitivity to human needs and dignity . The full text of the statement follows:

 The Catholic Church in Japan has always been active in providing what little assistance it can to foreigners who for a variety of reasons visit our shores. We know the complicated problems facing foreign workers here and are fully aware that helping and supporting them is no easy task. The questions are not the simple kind that can be solved by official policy. However no matter how complicated the problem may be we start with the premise that in the eyes of God, race and nationality are set aside and each person is endowed with unique human dignity. This is the principle that has been and will continue to be the basis of our concern for the foreign community here.

 Now when sadly some of those foreigners break our laws they are in due course interrogated in police cells held in places of temporary confinement or sent to jail. But it has come to our knowledge that from a humanitarian standpoint there are many areas where the treatment accorded them needs to be amended. We are aware that the people in charge the responsible officials are acting according to the rules; we know also that efforts are being made to improve conditions in the various institutions concerned. Nevertheless we are convinced that in the humanitarian view there are still many many situations that call for immediate remedial measures. It is this conviction which has prompted us to submit the following items for your attention and to request that everyone in the Ministries concerned and all responsible officials do something to improve the conditions under which foreigners are at present held in detention. We also request that the Minister carry out the necessary amendment of the pertinent laws and regulations.

 1. To be sent to jail or any place of confinement is even for a Japanese a nerve-racking experience. In the case of people from overseas who do not know the language or customs of Japan even a trifling incident can add greatly to that strain. This is why many foreigners in custody have fallen victim to neurosis and mental ailments. As a first step therefore toward amending the situation we earnestly request that the staff in these institutions be educated in the requisite foreign languages. Further when foreigners are taken into custody the officers in charge should show them the consideration of giving them directions and an explanation written in their own language or at least have this read to them. This explanation should contain the information that the accused have the right in justice to request a lawyer.

 2. In cases where the people detained contract neurosis or some mental disorder due to various causes we humbly request that the Ministry provide them with a counselor. We would hope that instead of punishing them for words and actions caused by mounting anxiety and leading to a disruption in prison routine a specialist or counselor be enlisted and the case be dealt with in this way.

 3. We wish to record here also an earnest appeal to amend the prison rule that allows family visits only. Visits from families in distant lands are so expensive as to be almost impossible. On the other hand prison life without family visits increases loneliness and anxiety. At the very least we should like the law amended to allow visits from someone who represents the family and is authorized by them.

 4. It is also our sincere hope that the Ministry will take steps to educate and train the staff in these institutions especially in the use of Asian languages so that people in detention can freely write letters in their own language and speak that language when they have visitors. We heard of a case that runs contrary to all humanitarian concepts the case of a mother who after traveling all the way from Israel to visit her son in jail had to return home without exchanging one word with him all because she could not speak English or Japanese. Raising the linguistic efficiency of the staff however will take time. In that case we suggest that provisionally the Ministry could make use of NGO personnel or other civilian sources.

 5. Because of our involvement with people in detention we have found that the awareness of and interpretation of their responsibility on the part of personnel in prisons and places of detention here are far below the international level. Could we entreat the Minister to provide officials and all personnel with a solid grounding and education in the principles involved so as to give them a greater consciousness of human rights? The raison d 'etre of a prison has changed. Its definition as a place of punishment is changing to a place of regeneration. We are convinced that this is the present trend in international society. Hence our petition to the Ministry to provide prison staff with the kind of education and training that will include counseling their charges toward regeneration.

 6. Merely meting out punishment to people does not help them to get back on their feet. They need counseling and the strength that religion can provide. This is an area that touches on problems of the heart and the spirit the area where religion is of the greatest assistance. As to how they should treat the religion a detainee believes in we entreat the authorities to take the broad view and respond with understanding and flexibility. In the case of Catholics, for instance, Baptism, the Mass, the Eucharist have a profound meaning for them. We are sure that a study of the position of religion in other countries and the part it plays in people s lives would lead to a greater understanding of prisoners' needs in this regard.

 7. Finally it is our earnest hope that the Ministry would increase the number and quality of translators available in the immigration bureaus, temporary detention centers and other such places, and put the system on a firm basis. The need is not only for competence in speaking a certain foreign language but also a thorough acquaintance with the language and system of the law courts in order to ensure a fair trial for the person accused.

 The requests we have listed above are the fruit of experience gathered over the years from our involvement with the foreign community. If the Ministry of Justice could, from a humanitarian point of view, achieve a better approach to the foreigners in our jails and detention centers, we are convinced it would be another proof of Japan s openness and readiness to play its part as a member of international society.

Note: Reprinted with permission of ASIA FOCUS (December 19, 1997 / ASIA FOCUS / page 8)