Pope appoints Pinoy bishop to Japan diocese

MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis appointed on Wednesday 57-year-old bishop Edgar Gacutan to lead the diocese of Sendai in Japan, making him the first Filipino Catholic bishop to lead a Japanese diocese, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported.

An article posted yesterday on CBCP’s official website stated that Gacutan was serving as parish priest of Matsubara Catholic Church in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo upon his appointment.

Gacutan was born in Cagayan in 1964. He studied Philosophy at St. Louis University in Baguio City from 1981 to 1985 and Theology at Maryhill School of Theology in Manila from 1986 to 1989 before he transferred to Japan in February 1990 as a seminary student.

The CBCP said that Gacutan returned to the Philippines to complete his theological studies at the same university after three years of internship in Japan.

He was ordained priest for the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae (CICM), or the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1994. He was sent back to Japan after his ordination where he served as an assistant pastor in Kongo church, Osaka from 1994 to 1997.

Gacutan joined the team ministry in Osaka for six years until 2003. In 2004, he was appointed superior of the Japanese CICM province and served until 2012. He also worked for victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011.