On Thursday, November 8, the Rector Major visited the Cimatti Museum in Chofu seminary, Tokyo. The museum stores various items related to Fr Cimatti: documents, publications, collection of minerals and plants, musical works, photos, everyday objects he used, and more. It is a place that tells us of the 92 year history of the Japanese Province, especially the activities of Fr Cimatti and the first missionaries, and Fr Cimatti’s spiritual life. The photos and documents here help the visitors to understand how much the Salesians have dedicated their hard work to serve the young tirelessly, in the past as well as today.
The Rector Major –accompanied by his secretary, Fr Horacio López; by mgr. Mario Yamanouchi, SDB, bishop of Saitama; Fr Jacob Hamaguchi, Provincial; and Fr Václav Klement, Counselor for the East Asia-Oceania Region – listened intently as Fr Gaetano Compri, the Curator of the Museum, showed his visitors around and explained the story behind the exhibited items. After visiting the museum, the Rector Major went to the tomb of Fr Cimatti in the chapel below the Seminary and prayed. He prayed for the Japanese Province and the Salesian mission in this country.
Subsequently, the X Successor of Don Bosco went to the tomb of Fr Cimatti, in the chapel below the formation house, and he prayed for the Japanese Province and the Salesian mission in Japan.
In a short video recorded at the exit from the chapel, the Rector Major also sent a greeting to the whole local Salesian Family, and declared: "We started our visit by embracing the great figure of Fr Cimatti. We ask the Lord and Mary Help of Christians that they be beautiful and most meaningful days for us here in Japan ... Thank you to everyone for the welcome and for making us feel at home."
In the afternoon, the Rector Major flew to Miyazaki, in southwest Japan, Miyazaki was the first mission territory of the Salesians in Japan.
On the YouTube channel of the Salesians of Japan there are also several videos on the Rector Major's Animation Visit to the Province.
