POPE Francis has appointed the first Filipino bishop in Japan. The Holy Father on Wednesday named Fr. Edgar Gacutan, a missionary priest, as bishop in the Japanese diocese of Sendai. Prior to his appointment, Gacutan, 57, was serving as parish priest of Matsubara Catholic Church in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. 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. In February 1990, Gacutan was transferred to Japan as a seminary student. After three years of internship in Japan, Gacutan returned to Manila to complete his theological studies and was ordained priest for the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1994. A month after his ordination, Gacutan was sent back to Japan, where he served as an assistant pastor in Kongo church, Osaka from 1994 to 1997, then joined the team ministry in Osaka for 6 years until 2003. In 2004, Gacutan was appointed superior of the Japanese CICM Province and served until 2012. From 2014 to 2017, he was assigned to the area and worked for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/12/09/news/pope-francis-names-first-filipino-bishop-in-japan/1825328
EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD
Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.
“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”
