Vice Province of Maizuru
1948-1981
Upon a request from the Sacred Congregation of Propagation of the Faith, the Toronto Province decided to establish a mission in Japan. On April 25, 1948, a departure ceremony at St. Patrick’s church in Toronto was held for Fr. James Fuller as superior, Frs. Raymond Horn and William James.
Established first in Maizuru of the Diocese of Osaka, the English-speaking Canadian Redemptorists were part of an international community of religious orders in Japan. By 1953, there were nine members of the Toronto Province serving in small parishes and as builders of chapels/churches and as chaplains in schools and hospitals. Brother George Pope taught English (1967-1984) at Nanzan University in Nagoya. Under Fr. Fuller, a former Toronto Province Novice Master, a Novitiate was opened in 1950 for Japanese vocations. By 1962, the mission consisted of 13 priests and Br. George Pope from the Toronto Province. In the 1960s, newly-ordained priests and seminarians of the Toronto Province were assigned to the mission. On Dec. 25, 1965, the Vice Province of Maizuru was established under the Toronto Province and continued until it was dissolved in 1981. Fr. David Weir returned in 1993-2000 as pastor of the parish in Higashi, Maizuru. Br. George Pope retired in Suita, a suburb of Osaka, and died in Nagoya with some students at his bedside. Three Toronto Province confreres – Br. George Pope, Frs. Charles Brocklehurst and Patrick Hennessey – were buried in the local cemetery in Nishi-Maizuru.
