Speaking in Tokyo, November 10, Cardinal Peter
Turkson emphasized “the significance and urgency” of the debate on
nuclear energy and the need to protect the rights of immigrants in
Japan, a country of 128 million people.
The cardinal, who heads the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, addressed these and other issues during an international symposium on “Peace and Justice in the Global Age” at the Jesuit-run Sophia University, Tokyo.
The event was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the university’s foundation and the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Japan.
Addressing a distinguished audience of ambassadors, Japanese bishops and academics, the cardinal said the Holy See’s relations with Japan are “marked by mutual respect and a common desire to foster peace and reconciliation in global affairs”.
This positive climate provides “opportunities for fruitful dialogue” between the two sides on such important issues as “ageing population and immigration, nuclear energy and sustainability.”
Both sides have “shared values”, and foremost among them is “a commitment to world peace”, he stated. Japan, the only nation to have suffered the atomic bomb, has renounced the right to resort to war and to use force to settle territorial disputes and has promoted “multilateralism and peaceful cooperation among nations”.
Furthermore, in a world of increasing divisions between rich and poor, he said “Japan and the Holy See continue to work toward a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources”.
He praised Japan because, “in spite of its own problems”, it “has ceaselessly expanded and reinforced cooperation far beyond its borders, primarily in developing countries.”
He said the “triple disaster” – earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat, which hit Japan, March 2011 has demonstrated “the ever greater importance of cooperation.”
He praised both “the quiet but resilient determination of the Japanese to rebuild” and the way the international community rallied in solidarity to Japan’s aid. That “brought out the best in our human family”, he stated.
The disaster also “heightened the significance and urgency of the current debate on nuclear energy”, he said, and so in Japan, and other countries, “citizens and decision-makers are focussed on the future of nuclear energy”, as more and more people demand “safer and more sustainable sources of energy”.
Cardinal Turkson said the “rich cultural and spiritual traditions” of Japan and the Holy See “have much to contribute to this debate”, as have the world’s great religious traditions. They can also provide “an essential moral compass” to the public debate on two other key issues: Japan’s ageing population and the question of immigration.
Like other developed countries, he said, Japan has an ageing population which, some predict could decline by almost a million a year, and by 2055 half of the population will be pensioners. There are strains on its social services, and the elderly are considered a burden, the cardinal said. He called for proper recognition of the place and dignity of the elderly in society.
He warned that because of its low birth rate and ageing population, Japan may be tempted “to disregard international standards” in its immigration policy, and “close in on itself”. In its history, he recalled, “Japan always had its outcasts” as it attracted settlers from China, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam and even Brazil, and while it has experienced a steady increase in foreign residents “the rights of immigrants are often lost in the scramble to make up for a diminished workforce”.
He noted that Japan’s current immigrant policies “diverge from” the Holy See’s teaching which “considers it essential that the rights of immigrants be protected”, including “freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin”.
He told his audience, and by extension the Government, that it is “urgent” to protect the rights of immigrants, because there is evidence that also because of the failure to do so “international labour is by-passing Japan for other rich countries”.
He argued that the demographic challenge and the nuclear question illustrate “the deficiencies of a purely market-based view of human development” whereby “a person’s social worth is determined by his or her ability to produce, consume and contribute to the economy.”
He denounced this utilitarian perspective as “dangerous” because “it tends to undermine the fundamental truth that both Christianity and Japan's traditional beliefs uphold, namely, the equal worth of every human life.”
He concluded by praising “Japan's respect for religious liberty and freedom of worship” which makes it possible for “people of all faiths” to contribute the insights of their religious traditions “in the public debates over the future of Japanese society.”