POPE Francis on Wednesday night appointed Filipino missionary priest Fr. Edgar Gacutan as the new bishop of the Diocese of Sendai in Japan, making history as the first Filipino bishop in the island country.
The 57-year-old Gacutan has had a long stint as a foreign missionary in Japan, according to a report in CBCP News.
“Fr. Edgar Gacutan’s nomination makes him the first Filipino to be named bishop in Japan,” said the official news agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Prior to his appointment, the missionary has been serving as parish priest of Matsubara Catholic Church, which is located at Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, since 2017.
He was born in Enrile, Cagayan in September 1964.
Gacutan studied Philosophy at the 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, he was transferred to Japan as a seminary student.
After three years of internship in Japan, Gacutan returned to Manila to complete his theological studies at the same institution.
In 1994, he was ordained priest for the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM).
A month after his ordination, he was sent back to Japan to serve as an assistant pastor in Kongo church in Osaka from 1994 to 1997, before joining the team ministry in Osaka until 2003.
By 2004, he was appointed superior of the Japanese CICM Province and served until 2012.
From 2013 to 2017, Gacutan served as a pastor in Ofunato in the Diocese of Sendai.
