Parishes
Kichijōji Catholic Church
Name
Kichijōji Catholic Church
Dedicated to
The Holy Spirit
Date of Establishment
Feb. 21, 1949
Parish Priest
Biju Augustin Kizhakkel, S.V.D.
Associate Parish Priest
John Bp. Chihiro Mori, S.V.D.
John Ap. Tran Nam Phong, S.V.D.
Number of Parishioners
3,117 (as of Dec.31,2019)
Sunday Mass
Sat. 17:00
Sun. 9 am / 10:30 am
1st Sun 3:30 pm ( English)
2nd Sun 3 pm (Vietnamese, From Sept.)
3rd Sun 3:30 pm (International Mass :Tagalog)
*All foreign language Masses will begin at 3:00 p.m. from September.
Weekday Mass
Tuesday-Friday 6:50 am
Sunday School
After 9:00 a.m. Mass on the first and third Sundays
Bible Study
Courses begin in July
Activity
Please refer to the website of Kichijoji Church below.
Address
1-7-8 Gotenyama, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0005
Telephone
0422-44-0181
Fax
0422-44-0180
Website
Facilities for the Handicapped
Slope,Toilet,Wheelchair
Directions
6 minutes walk from Kichijoji Station on JR Chuo Line ・ Sobu Line or Kichijoji Station on Keio Inokashira Line). Parking available. (Please ask for permission before parking.. Map GoogleMap
Parish History
History
In 1935, the Missionaries of the Divine Word Mission, Fr. Georgius Gemeinder and Fr. Konstantin Guddorf had rent a house at Nishi Ogikubo and started their missionary work in Tokyo. In 1936 St. Albert Home (a seminary) was founded in Higashimachi Kichijoji ( Juichi Koji) and Fr. Hubertus Flatten became the superior. Fr. Aemilius Naberfeld and Fr. Karl Reitz and other five members had lived there as one community and they studied about Buddhism, Shinto-ism and archaeology aside of pastoral work. In 1942 the sub-parish of Koenji Catholic Church was formed. In 1943 the first sacraments of baptism, confirmation and wedding had been given by Fr. Flatten in the Church. In 1945 during the war foreign missionaries were forced to evacuated at Karuizawa and Yamanakako area. During the time of their absence, Japanese priests came to offer Holy Mass and then seminarians who moved from the central area of Tokyo lived at St. Albert Home. After the second world war those foreign missionaries who had been forced to evacuated have returned to the Church. They have started the full-scale evangelization under the leadership of . Fr. Hubertus Flatten. In 1946 youth activities of Boy Scout & Girl Scout and others have started in the Church. In 1947 Fr. Hubertus Flatten became the provincial of S.V.D. and he transferred to the provincial house. Fr. Johannes Ponzelet was assigned as the superior of the community and Fr. Aemilius Naberfeld was assigned as the chaplain of the Church. In 1948 they started and run about to look for a new land large enough for the Church yard with good traffic access. With the help of the Church members the land was found and 1,941 tsubo have been purchased for the Church. On February 21 in 1949 the Church became independent as Kichijoji Parish from Koenji Parish. At the end of the year the Assembly hall have been completed and the first Mass have been offered there as the temporary chapel of the Kichijoji Church. On April 17,1954 the present chapel has been completed and after that the parsonage, mission office and other facilities were arranged in good condition. During the first period of the Church so many people had cooperated for the new establishment of the Church. Among them the memory of Mr. Ichisuke Otsuka,. Mr. Chisaburou Izawa, and Mr. Ichiro Yamanouchi were ever in our mind. During the time of hardship in post war the volunteer activities of the youth were remarkable and the Church have offered the meeting place for them, and Fr.Shigeto Oshida O.P., Fr. Ichiro Okumura O.C.D. and Fr. Kazushige Fujioka of Tokyo Diocese used to gather here in their young days as the active members. In 1957 Fr. Sadaharu Yasuda was assigned as the chaplain. In 1971 an eleven storied high rise condominium has been built in the Church yard. From the first to the third floor the rooms are occupied for the assembly hall, parsonage and office of the Church. From the fourth floor up are for the units of condominium offered for sale. On December 13,1973 due to the fire from the neighboring house the back roof of the Church have been burnt out and then the pipe organ got damaged. From April the repair of the pipe organ has been started and the interior of the chapel also has been reformed according to the new way of liturgy after the second Vatican council. Up to the present time the missionaries of the Divine Word Mission have been in charge of the pastoral care of Kichijoji Church. The Church has become a quite big parish because three or four priests support the Church community always, the frequencies of Sunday Mass are many, the traffic access is good and there is a large Church yard space.
