Pope Benedict XVI’s telegram at the Demise of Card. Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi of JapanC

Pope Benedict XVI’s telegram at the Demise of Card. Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi of Japan
SEDOC
Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences to Tokyo's Catholics in a telegram sent to the city's current Catholic leader, Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada at the death of Cardinal Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi of Tokyo, Japan, who passed away on Wednesday 30^th of December 2009. The pope praised the cardinal's "unfailing commitment to the spread of the Gospel in Japan in his many years as priest and bishop, his work for the promotion of justice and peace, and his tireless efforts on behalf of refugees." The cardinal had been suffering from cardiac problems and recently moved to the Jesuit-run Loyola House, a home for aged priests in Tokyo, where he died. Known particularly for his support for the Catholic communities in China, his efforts to promote interreligious dialogue and his commitment to assisting refugees, Cardinal Shirayanagi retired in June 2000 after 30 years at the helm of the Archdiocese of Tokyo. His death leaves Japan without a cardinal and leaves the College of Cardinals with 184 members, 112 of whom are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave. Cardinal Shirayanagi was born in Hachioji, in the Archdiocese of Tokyo, on 17 June 1928. He did his studies at the Sophia University Japan specializing in Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained a priest at the Catholic Cathedral Kanda in 1954. In 1960 he obtained a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. He was elected titular Bishop of Athens on 15 March 1966 and at the same time appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Tokyo. On 15 November 1969 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Archdiocese of Tokyo and on February 21, 1970 became Archbishop of Tokyo. On 26 November 1994, Pope John Pau II appointed him Cardinal in the Consistory. The funeral service will be held on next Tuesday, January 5, 2010, at the Cathedral of Tokyo. The body will then be cremated, according to local custom, on the afternoon of January 5.