– Supernatural 22nd General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis which runs from May 11 to 16, 2023, has elected Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi as the new Chairman of the Caritas Internationalis for the next four years.
The election, which was the focus of the afternoon meetings on May 13, was one of the key moments of this Assembly, which is being held six months after the Holy See decided to give a a change of direction in the governance of Caritas Internationalis removing the top management headed by Luis Antonio Tagle, president since 2015, and secretary general Aloysius John.
The new president of Caritas, Japanese Bishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi SVD, is the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan and Secretary General of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC).
Linked to Caritas since 1995
Kikuchi is very familiar with the work of Caritas, which he has been involved with since 1995. The archbishop of Tokyo began as a volunteer at the Bukavu Refugee Camp in Bukavu, then Zaire.
He subsequently held various positions of responsibility in the charitable arm of the Church as Executive Director of Caritas Japan from 1999 to 2004 and President of Caritas Japan from 2007 to 2022.
He was also President of Caritas Asia from 2011 to 2019, a member of the Executive Committee of Caritas Internationalis from 1999 to 2004 and a member of the Council of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.
Just yesterday, the Japanese addressed the 400 Caritas delegates from all over the world gathered in Rome these days, pointing out that "Caritas must be in the front line to welcome, accompany, serve and defend the poor and vulnerable".
Brief biography
Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi was born in Iwate on November 1, 1958. He was professed in the Divine Word Missionaries in March 1985, before his ordination to the priesthood on March 15, 1986.
After ordination, he served as a missionary in Ghana, Africa, where he was a parish priest in a rural parish for 8 years. He was appointed bishop of Niigata in 2004 and, in 2017, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Tokyo.
