Ken Foye is an American Catholic living abroad, teaching English writing, reading, presentation, discussion, and conversation classes at a four-year university in northern Japan. He is an Oblate of St. Benedict and is married to a Japanese convert to Catholicism. Among his academic research interests is the inclusion of faith and religion discussions in the English language classroom.
Author: Ken Foye
The Pros and Cons of Being Catholic in Japan
I’m often asked about the state of Catholicism in Japan and about being a Catholic expat in Japan in particular. I thought this might be a good time to write about it, given that Japan might be on a lot …
Dear Father: Less Social Justice, Please, and More Real-World Preaching
Dear Father N., Thank you for coming across town from your parish to ours to celebrate Mass for us as often as you do. As one of the few parish members (if not the only one) who doesn’t speak Japanese …
The Catholic Case for Sticking a Fork in the Jesuits
As I write this piece, I am wearing around my neck my St. Francis Xavier medal. I wear it almost always. At home, at work, at Mass, even while working out at the gym or playing hockey, it is always …
Reflections on Prison in Life and After: We’re All Criminals
Until just a few weeks ago, I knew precious little about my mother’s side of the family. She passed away young, when she was 39 and I was 10; that was in the late 1970s. Other than her sister, who …
Ad Orientem: Turning Things Around in the Church
In my 21 years in Japan, I have attended three funerals. The first, for my wife’s godmother, was a Catholic one, while the other two were not. As my wife is Japanese and is the only Catholic in her family …
In Defense of the Jesuit Order (Sort Of)
Editor’s note: The following is not the position of 1P5, but we submit the author’s opinion to help inform discussion on the question of the always troublesome (these days) Jesuits. As we lament their present state, it is worthwhile to …
What Japan Teaches about the Invincibility of the Faith
Whatever qualifies as a “Christian country” these days, Japan would not likely be seen as one in anyone’s mind. Only 1% of the Japanese population, split evenly between Catholics and Protestants along with small pockets of Eastern Orthodoxy, claim to …
What Not to Blame Clerical Sex Abuse On
When wrongdoing becomes widespread to the point of seeming endemic – as has the horrid evil of clerical sex abuse – blaming the individual culprits isn’t enough. We also desire to know who allowed the wrongdoing to spread, who failed …
Abuse Crisis: In Defending the Church, Dump These Excuses
It’s understandable to want to stick up for those we love, even when we know they’re in the wrong. And because we love the Catholic Church, currently reeling from a new round of sexual abuse reports, we naturally want to …