Father Roberto served as a priest in Japan from 2009 until 2021, before residing in the Diocese of San José at the Maryknoll residence in Los Altos prior to its closure. He is now looking forward to his new assignment in Bolivia.

He reflected on his time in San José, where he assisted at Saint John Vianney and Our Lady of Guadalupe parishes with immense personal gratitude: “I find San José to be a very, very healthy diocese, and I admire all the different projects that are continuously being implemented, like the synod and pastoral plan.”

His experiences so far, he said, have given him a great gift, “I will say they have given me a larger perspective on how God is present in so many ways to His people.”

Ueno, Japan, Diocese of Kyoto

“In my last assignment at the Infant Child Jesus Parish in Ueno, Kyoto Diocese, we had a wonderful Pentecost Mass celebration in 2019. It was a vibrant, multicultural, and multilingual celebration. The pews were filled with many different migrants who had found a new spiritual home in the Catholic Church in Japan. We celebrated the Mass in Japanese, Spanish, and English.”

Readers may be surprised to learn of this diversity in Japan’s Catholic Church. Historically, there was significant migration of Japanese people to various parts of the Americas beginning in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In recent decades, there has been a reverse migration, with many people of Japanese–Latin American descent returning to Japan for work.

In his Japanese ministry, Father Roberto worked to unify a diverse array of groups within Japanese parishes, primarily through shared cultural and religious celebrations. Recalling that Pentecost celebration he mused, “There were all kinds of people in attendance — from Vietnam, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, and Japan. The choir led the singing in various languages, and we had prayers done in the same way. Our communal feeling was that, in the unity of our Christian faith, everyone participating at that Pentecost was part of the People of God and nothing less.”

From the Diocese of San José to Bolivia

For the last few years, Father Roberto resided in Los Altos. Before its closure earlier this year, it was, he reflected, “A place of prayer, meditation, and peace where our retired Fathers and Brothers spent their days in silence and meditation, in communion with God and the surrounding beauty of God’s creation.”

He is currently in New York, awaiting the start of his next assignment in Bolivia.

About his time in the Diocese of San José, Father Roberto feels he was a daily witness to the generosity of its people, “Bishop Cantu, the clergy, and the religious sisters are very generous, very kind in their ministry. There is also a lot of lay participation. They are all really wonderful. I just have a great sense of gratitude for my time there.”

A Deepening Sense of Christ’s Love

Father Roberto also shared about a deepening sense of Christ’s love as he continues in his ministry and priestly vocation:

“When I was a young priest, I would characterize my relationship with Christ as not very close. Now, as I am a much older priest, I would characterize my relationship with Christ as closer than before and more intimate. I love my vocational call to the priesthood, and I love deeply my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

As a Maryknoll Missionary, Father Roberto serves wherever he is sent — offering friendship, faith, and love to the people of the world, especially the poor and non-believers. His vocation is, at its heart, one of spreading the Good News of Our Lord Jesus Christ — a Good News he daily experiences through divine love.

“I will say that my relationship with Jesus as my Lord and Savior is closer now than before, and I find more unity with Him through prayer. I feel that He’s always with me. That gives me a great deal of comfort and a great sense of being loved by Jesus.”