Tokyo’s new cardinal reveals what he wants from the next pope | National Catholic Register

The Archbishop of Tokyo shared in an interview with CNA what qualities he is looking for in the next Pope as he faces the possibility of participating in a future papal conclave after being named one of the new cardinals of the Catholic Church.

“If the conclave happens very soon, I think we need someone to succeed Pope Francis’ policies,” Tarcisio Cardinal-elect Isao Kikuchi said.

“Because he started this synodal path of creating a synodal Church, and if someone comes with… a different agenda, then what we are doing is just in vain, just to disappear.”

Cardinal-elect Kikuchi, who is in Rome this month as a delegate to the Synod on Synodality, spoke about one of the difficulties faced by newly appointed cardinals who come from sees in Tehran, Iran; Turin, Italy; and Toronto, among others, meets the 140 voting members of the College of Cardinals.

“After the announcement was made, a few days later I went to the website to find all the names of cardinals under 80 years old – that is, those who are currently eligible to vote in the conclave. And I know some of them, but I don’t know many of them,” he said.

The 65-year-old archbishop stressed that he believes it is important for new cardinals especially to get to know the “senior cardinals” to learn “who they are, what they think and what their abilities are.”

“Otherwise it will be very difficult to choose someone as Pope,” he added.

One of the many ways Pope Francis has transformed the College of Cardinals during his 11-year pontificate is by more than doubling the number of cardinal electors from Asia. When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, nine cardinals from Asia were voting. After the upcoming consistory there will be 22 of them.

“There are quite a few cardinals from Asia, and I think among Asians we know each other quite well,” Cardinal-elect Kikuchi said, giving some of the credit to the annual meeting Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

As president of Caritas Internationalis – successor to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in this position – Cardinal-elect Kikuchi had the opportunity to meet many cardinals and bishops from different parts of the world, but added: “But I don’t know… WHO they are.”

The Japanese cardinal-elect noted that this month’s synod assembly provided an opportunity for leaders of the federations of bishops’ conferences in Asia, Africa and Latin America to meet in Rome, and expressed hope that future cooperation between these federations would help build relationships.

“We call ourselves the bishops’ conference of the Global South,” he added.

Missionary Heart for China

Like nearly half of the new cardinals recently elected by Pope Francis, Cardinal-elect Kikuchi is a member of a religious congregation.

Kikuchi entered the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), a missionary order founded in 1875 to evangelize China, as a junior seminarian. He recalled being inspired as a child by the story of Cardinal Thomas Tien Ken-Sing, the first cardinal from China to be a member of the Order of the Divine Word.

“He was the archbishop of Beijing in the 1940s… and was expelled from China in the 1950s and died in Taiwan. I knew this story when I studied at the minor seminary. I really admired his courage to try to maintain a presence in Beijing when the Communists (Party) took over the country,” Kikuchi recalls.

“We also had many missionaries fleeing China who came to Japan seeking refuge. And we have met many of them and they really inspire us on how to be a strong missionary,” he added.

After his ordination to the priesthood in 1986, Kikuchi was given the chance to become a missionary serving in Ghana, where he served for eight years, becoming the first Japanese priest to serve as a missionary in Africa.

Now, as archbishop of Tokyo, he leads a diverse flock that includes Catholics from mainland China who have shared with him both their hardships and his efforts to spread the faith in their homeland.

“We have a number of mainland Chinese Catholics living in Tokyo,” he said, highlighting the Chinese parish, which has many mainland Chinese members.

Regarding the Vatican’s preliminary agreement with Beijing on the appointments of bishops, Kikuchi pointed to the need for clarity on the boundaries of dioceses. He explained that the current dioceses in mainland China do not correspond to the historical diocesan boundaries established before the advent of communist rule.

“Officially speaking, the current dioceses in mainland China are not real dioceses. The real dioceses predate communist China,” he said.

Kikuchi also spoke about the importance of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Taiwan for the Church in the region.

“We always keep a close eye on what the relationship between the Holy See and Taiwan will be,” he said. “The future of this relationship…will truly impact the future of the Church in this region.”

The archbishop also sees the presence of 42,000 Filipinos living in Tokyo as a potential force for evangelization in secular Japan. He recounted Tagle’s visit to Tokyo, where he encouraged Filipinos to view their presence in Japan as part of God’s plan to spread the gospel.

“You have your reasons… but it is God’s plan to spread the good news in Japanese society,” Cardinal-elect Kikuchi said.