Terao Kazuyoshi

This essay elucidates the possibility that the Catholic Church in contemporary Japan will realize the idea of a NPO (nonprofit organization) from a perspective of religious management. As in the former postwar period, the situation around the Church these days has brought some drastic changes, which I describe as a "livelihood emergency," capable of resulting in desirable transformation. The established parish churches and the communities around them are integrated into a church-community system. This system is now confronted with the rapid influx of foreign Catholic lay people, and must provide asylum that emanates from the principle of muen (Amino Yoshihiko) and "communitas" (Victor W. Turner). We also find there a kind of multiculturalism that reminds us of cultural relativism. Priests and religious members play the role of facilitator in the management of ba ("place"; Itami Hiroyuki) in order to adapt themselves flexibly to actual conditions. A priest in a church-community must be a collaborative producer who makes plans for many open events, such as participation in public actions to attain social recognition for his community. I conclude that the management of religion should be an art of coexistence.