(JAPAN)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
May 5, 2025
By Keiko Kurane
The alleged rape victim’s lawyer said they met media to present a ‘legal opinion’ to the conclave
Ahead of the papal conclave, a Japanese woman has claimed that Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo was complicit in covering up a Divine Word priest, who repeatedly raped her for more than four years.
Tokie Tanaka, 64, told the media on May 2 in Tokyo that Divine Word Father Vargas Flos Osvaldo Javier, raped her repeatedly from 2012-2017.
Tanaka accused the Divine Word congregation and Kikuchi, a member of the congregation, of inadequate actions. The priest from Chile fled Japan without even apologizing to her, she said.
The allegation against Kikuchi arises while Tanaka’s 2023 civil lawsuit is pending in a Tokyo District Court. It seeks compensation of 30 million yen (US$208,000) from the congregation.
Her lawyer, Kazue Akita, admitted to UCA News that the press conference was an attempt to “present our legal opinion to the conclave,” questioning the cardinal’s participation in the papal election that starts on May 7.
Akita told UCA News that she had submitted an opinion to the Vatican regarding Kikuchi’s involvement in the case.
However, the alleged abuse took place nine years after Kikuchi had become a bishop and was no longer involved in the administration or activities of the congregation.
In an emailed response to UCA News, the cardinal, who is currently in Rome to participate in the papal conclave, said he had no knowledge of the case until it was reported in the news.
“A religious congregation is an independent entity from a diocese in both Church and Japanese law,” he wrote.
“I lost all rights as a religious of the Divine Word when I became a bishop in 2004, and I have no right to demand information from the Divine Word Missionaries unless they decide to provide it in response to my request.”
‘Crime not punished’
The alleged crime occurred when Javier was pastor at the Nishimachi Church in Nagasaki diocese from August 2011 to March 2016.
Tanaka said that in 2018, she complained to the Church’s human rights office, and following her complaint, Javier was suspended from pastoral ministry for three years in March 2019.
However, the congregation funded him 1 million yen (US$6,777) and permitted his return to Chile, his home country.The congregation’s investigation into the alleged abuse was insufficient, and the priest did not apologize for his actions, Tanaka said.
According to Tanaka, she was sexually abused as a child. In 2012, she told the priest about her violations to find spiritual solace.
The priest then forced her into sexual intercourse and filmed her under the pretext of “spiritual guidance” over four and a half years, Tanaka alleged.
Tanaka, fighting back tears, told the media, “I have suffered the trauma from that experience for all these years, so I began to think that I am probably worthless as a human being because of that experience.”
She said that during her fight against Javier, she came to learn about other similar cases involving priests.
“I wonder why the Church covered up those cases. If they had told us such cases, I would not have experienced such a horrible experience,” she said.
On March 1, 2019, Father Ziebura Eugeniusz, the then provincial superior of Divine Word, suspended Javier from all clerical ministerial faculties “until revoked.”
He was suspended for committing sexual crimes, breaking the vow of chastity, and also because of the possibility of causing scandals in the future, said the decree of suspension issued by Eugeniusz.
When UCA News contacted them on May 5, congregation officials were not immediately available to confirm if Javier’s suspension had been revoked.
In 2021, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan finalized and published a guideline for “protection of minors and vulnerable adults,” detailing a method to report and investigate complaints of abuse.