ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the role of a Catholic Church-based organisation of Filipino immigrants in Japan in providing care to their fellow Filipino immigrants. Instead of the role of the Catholic Church in providing support to Filipino immigrants, this chapter highlights the role of a Church-based Filipino organisation in providing care, not necessarily in the context of religious institutional care initiatives. It argues that ‘ethno-religious’ organisations such as the Kaagapay Oita Filipino Association play a crucial role in providing care to immigrants from their respective ethnic backgrounds, given the absence of immediate family members to provide them with informal care. The presence of Filipino community groups such as the Kaagapay in Catholic churches can be related to issues of integration and identity construction. However, such arrangements can serve as psychologically liberating social structures providing care which make adjusting to life changes easier and foster an optimistic view of the future, despite uncertainties, especially in relation to issues of health, ageing and death. Such issues should be dealt beyond their biomedical aspects, meaning that there are cultural nuances surrounding them, and only those who understand the culture can provide for the specific health, ageing and death care needs of immigrants.
