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Okamura Fuku

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Okamura Fuku
Missionary Sisters of St. John the Evangelist
岡村ふく
Personal life
Born June 3, 1899
Kyobashi Ward, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Died April 26, 1982 (aged 82)
Religious life
Religion Christianity
Denomination Roman Catholicism
Order Missionary Sisters of St. John the Evangelist

Okamura Fuku (Japanese: 岡村ふく; June 3, 1899 – April 26, 1982), also known as Mother Helen Theresia, was a Japanese Roman Catholic nun born in the Empire of Japan.[1] In 1944 she was the co-founder, with Fr. Vincent Totsuka Bunkyō (1892–1939, Bunkei Totsuka in some sources), of the Missionary Sisters of St. John the Evangelist, and Sakuramachi hospital.[2][3] She was listed as the director in the early 1970s.[4] Louis Massignon reported meeting her and her congregation in 1959 when he visited Sakuramachi hospital in Tokyo, and she is listed in his correspondence.[5] In 1963, when she was mother superior, she received a national medal for her work with developmentally disabled people, and her role in founding Sakuramachi hospital with Fr. Totsuka.[3]

References

  1. Back to citation Massignon, Louis (2009). Écrits Mémorables (in French). Paris: Éditions Robert Laffant. p. 780. ISBN 978-2-221-10656-3.
  2. Back to citation Van Hecken, CICM, Joseph Leonard (1963). The Catholic Church in Japan Since 1859. Tokyo: Herder Agency. p. 252.
  3. Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 "Welcome - St. John's Congregation". The Missionary Sisters of St. John the Evangelist. Archived from the original on November 18, 2025.
  4. Back to citation Hara, Ryozo; Colligan, James; Macleod, Ian, eds. (1971). The Japan Christian Yearbook 1969-1970. Tokyo: The Christian Literature Society of Japan. p. 359.
  5. Back to citation Massignon, Louis. "Extrême-Orient: Hôpital catholique de Sakuramachi (Japon)". Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. Fonds Louis Massignon: XIXe-XXe siècles. (in French).