Fr. Max Defoux (aged 86) and Fr.

riccardo magrin (aged 84)

The parallel experiences of a Belgian and an Italian priest of the PIME. On the verge of their "repose",
the "plots" of two women made them commit to significant new initiatives.

Karatsu (AsiaNews) -
They met for the first
time in 2004, even
though both have been
missionaries in Japan
for more than 50
years.  Almost a
confirmation of the
geometrical theory of
parallels, considering
the unfolding of the
missionary lives of Fr
Max Defoux (aged 86)
and Fr Riccardo Magrin
(84).

Their points of
departure were rather
different: Defoux was born in Namur (Belgium) in 1922, and Magrin in a town in the province of
Vicenza (Italy) in 1924; and therefore in a divided Europe torn apart by inhuman ideologies, which
had grown up in the terrain of rationalistic humanism.

But the two young men found a much different upbringing in their deeply Catholic families, which
fostered in both the birth and development of the desire to dedicate their lives to God and neighbour. 
At this level, their journey along parallel lines began, because this was not a question of a generic
vocation, but of the determination to dedicate their lives to the evangelisation of the non-Christian
world.

The tragic events of the second world war, although they shocked the two young men, were not able
to shake them to their core, because precisely during those years they were receiving their spiritual
formation in two missionary institutes, respectively that of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary (CICM), commonly called the "missionaries of Scheut" ( Belgium) for Massimiliano, and that
of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME, Italy) for Riccardo.  Both were ordained priests
during the first years following the war: the Belgian in 1947, the Italian in 1949.

The year of his ordination, Defoux, destined for the missions in China together with other of his
confreres, left for Beijing, but remained in the Chinese capital for only a few months.   The civil war
broke out, and the Red Army of Mao Tse-tung was triumphing everywhere.  The leadership of the
CICM decided, therefore, to send the young missionaries to another mission that had been underway
for just a short time: Japan.

After more than two years of study, Massimiliano was able to master the Japanese language, so
much so that he was able to take on the leadership of a parish in the city of Osaka.   From 1956 to
1964, he had to interrupt his Japanese venture because he had been entrusted with the direction of
the novitiate of his congregation in Belgium.

When he returned to Japan, he found himself in a nation profoundly transformed.   The extreme
poverty of the first years following the war had been replaced by an intense economic dynamism that
was beginning to produce wealth.  But unfortunately, conversions to Christianity had diminished
noticeably.  Methods had to change.

Fr Massimiliano was for a number of years involved in reinforcing Christianity in the area of Himeji,
not far from the city of Kobe, and in pastoral action on behalf of the imprisoned, especially those
condemned to death.  Solitude was easily overcome thanks to a hospitality centre for the members of
his congregation, created in the city of Himeji.

But suddenly Defoux found himself in Kagoshima, a city in the extreme south of the country.  The
bishop of the city, Paul Itonaga, who during the war, as a soldier in Manchuria, had met and admired
the missionaries of Scheut, asked the superior of the congregation to send one of them to his diocese
in order to entrust him the direction of the pastoral centre.  The choice fell to Fr Massimiliano.

In 1981, Defoux decided to become a Japanese citizen in order to be able to work more easily on
behalf of the Vietnamese refugees (the boat people).  His name is now Kokage Minoru.

At the age of 82, when he had decided to retire to a centre for Scheut missionaries, through the "plot"
of a Christian woman of Okayama and of her Japanese pastor, Kokage became chaplain of the
convent of the Trappist nuns on a hill near the city of Imari (on the island of and Kyushu).   The
woman, who in her youth had gone to the convent as a postulant, and had found out that the nuns
were without a chaplain, obtained together with her pastor that the superior of the Scheut fathers
should "suggest" to the Belgian-Japanese missionary that he devote himself to this further service for
"a few months".  He has been there for four years: and he offers a valuable spiritual service to the
Trappist community and to various Christian groups that come to the adjoining retreat house.

The missionary experience of Magrin, though not as geographically varied, was not dissimilar.  For
decades, he discreetly and fruitfully carried out evangelization activities in some of the cities of the
prefecture of Saga (Kyushu).  And for him as well, his path to retirement was blocked by a woman,
the wife of Doctor Ichiro Ide, founder of the "St. Mary" hospital, one of the best in the city of Kurume,
on the island of Kyushu.  The elderly and enterprising lady, having found out that the Italian
missionary was about to retire, asked him, with the support of the superiors of the PIME, to do this not
in Italy but in the hospital founded by her husband.  And so for eight years Fr Riccardo, in his white
shirt, has gone from room to room offering words of hope to the sick and elderly who desire them,
and there are not a few of them, almost all of them non-Christian.

It is said that Japan does not produce Christians.  It is certain, however, that it has produced
missionaries of the calibre of Max Defoux and Riccardo Magrin, for whom the word "resignation" has
been replaced by "hope and serenity".

Namur (Belgium)
Namur, Flemish Namen, city, capital of Namur province, Wallonia Region, south-central Belgium. It
lies at the junction of the Sambre and Meuse (Maas) rivers. Once a pre-Roman oppidum (fortified
town), it became the seat of the counts of Namur from 908 until it passed to Burgundy in 1421. Namur
is dominated by its medieval citadel, which sits atop a rocky promontory between the two rivers. The
city has been an episcopal see since 1559.

NamurNamur, Belg., on the banks of the Sambre River.© jorisvo/Shutterstock.com

Because of its strategic position at the head of routes into France, Namur was the scene of a number
of battles and sieges. Two campaigns—known as the sieges of Namur—that occurred during the  War
of the Grand Alliance (1689–97) are particularly notable. The citadel on a rock located above the town
was originally the castle of the counts of Namur; it was fortified in the 15th, 16th, and 19th centuries
before being abandoned in 1862. Newer outlying fortifications (1893) were destroyed by the Germans
in World War I, and Namur sustained a considerable amount of damage in World War II.
A rail junction and centre of art and tourism, Namur is also industrial—its products including glass,
paper, leather goods, steel products, and cement. Despite the wars and sieges, many architectural
landmarks remain in Namur. These include the Baroque cathedral of St. Aubain, with noteworthy
paintings and metalwork; the Jesuit church of St. Loup, with its columns of red marble; the convent of
the Sisters of Our Lady, containing 13th-century treasures of silver and gold craftsmanship; and the
Meat Hall (1588), housing the archaeological museum. Baroque (1632–48) horse stalls are a unique
feature of the 17th-century church, Notre-Dame, which was transformed between 1770 and 1775 by
the architect L.-B. Dewez. The Diocesan Museum exhibits the Carolingian shrine of Andenne and the
golden crown and portable altar (1217) of the counts of Namur. A restored 11th-century bridge that
crosses the Meuse 4 miles (7 km) from Namur is the place where King Albert I fell to his death while
rock climbing in 1934. Pop. (2008 est.) 107,939.

Vicenza (Italy)
Vicenza, Latin Vicetia, city, episcopal see, Veneto region, northern Italy, traversed by the
Bacchiglione and Retrone rivers, at the eastern end of the valley between the Monti Lessini and the
Monti Berici (which connects Lombardy with Veneto), northwest of Padua. Originally a settlement of
the Ligurians or Veneti, it became the Roman Vicetia and, after the barbarian invasions, the seat of a
Lombard duchy. In 1164 it formed part of the Veronese League against Frederick I Barbarossa and
continued through the 13th century to struggle against the imperial power and local tyrant lords. It
was ruled by the Scaligers from 1311 until it passed to the Visconti (1387) and in 1404 to  Venice,
whose fortunes it afterward shared. It suffered widespread destruction in World War II but has been
largely restored.

Loggia del Capitanio, a gallery designed by Andrea Palladio, Vicenza, ItalySCALA/Art Resource,
New York
Once surrounded by 13th-century walls, Vicenza is a compact city, famous as the home of the 16th-
century architect Andrea Palladio and his successor Vincenzo Scamozzi, who enriched it with
numerous buildings. The most notable Palladian structures are the Basilica (1549–1614); the Loggia
del Capitanio (1571); the Teatro Olimpico (1580–85), Palladio’s last work, finished by Scamozzi; and
the Villa Rotonda (1553–89), also completed by Scamozzi (1599). Palladio’s Palazzo Chiericati
(1551–57) houses the city art museum, which contains works by northern Italian painters. Earlier
churches include the Gothic cathedral (13th century, rebuilt since 1944), Santa Corona (1260,
restored), San Lorenzo (13th century), and SS. Felice e Fortunato (nucleus 4th century, with major
restorations of the 10th–12th century). The Basilica of Monte Berico (rebuilt 1687–1702) and the Villa
Valmarana (1669) stand outside the city.

Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy; designed by Andrea Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi,
1585.© travelview/Fotolia
The economic and communications centre of its province, Vicenza has engineering, food-processing,
chemical, textile, and timber industries. Vicenza was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in
1994. Pop. (2008 est.) mun., 114,108.

Second World War China Beijing and Japan

Marco Polo Bridge Incident, (July 7, 1937), conflict between Chinese and Japanese troops near
the Marco Polo Bridge (Chinese: Lugouqiao) outside Beiping (now Beijing), which developed into the
warfare between the two countries that was the prelude to the Pacific side of World War II.
In 1931 Japan occupied Manchuria (now Northeast China) and established the puppet state
of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo), spending large sums to develop the region’s industry and continuing to
expand their occupation into northern China around Beiping and Tianjin. This violation of China’s
territorial integrity produced a growing anti-Japanese movement in China. By 1937 this movement
had grown so strong that the Chinese communists and Nationalists agreed to end their civil war and
form a United Front against further Japanese aggression.
Before the incident occurred, the Japanese army had occupied Fengtai, the railway junction close to
the Marco Polo Bridge, southwest of Beiping. On the night of July 7, 1937, a small Japanese force on
maneuvers near the Marco Polo Bridge demanded entry to the tiny walled town of Wanping in order
to search for one of their soldiers. The Chinese garrison in the town refused the Japanese entry; a
shot was heard, and the two sides began firing. The Chinese government, under strong anti-
Japanese pressure, refused to make any concessions in the negotiation of the dispute. The Japanese
also maintained their position. As a result, the conflict continued to grow.
As the fighting spread to central China, the Japanese scored successive victories. The Japanese
government, under mounting public pressure not to retreat, decided to seek a quick victory in China.
However, this eluded them, and the two sides plunged into what was to become the Sino-Japanese
War (1937–45) and, in 1941, the Pacific theatre of World War II.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/At-over-80-years-of-age,-two-missionaries-teach-the-Gospel-and-serenity-11937.html

https://www.britannica.com/place/Namur-Belgium

https://www.britannica.com/place/Vicenza-Italy

https://www.britannica.com/event/Marco-Polo-Bridge-Incident