LaSalle Parsons, Catholic priest and human rights activist in Okinawa, dies at 90
September 8, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo
LaSalle Parsons, Catholic priest and president of a local group to deliberate life, death and aging (Sei to Shi to Oi wo Mitsumeru Kai) died of old age at 6:43 p.m. on September 4 at a monastery in Oroku, Naha City, at the age of 90. He was born in New York. The funeral service will be held on September 9 with only monks present.
Father Parsons came to Okinawa as a missionary in September 1958. For 30 years since 1959, he guided students at a collegio in Shuri-Sakiyama-Cho, Naha City. In 1990, he became the president of the Naha Group of Amnesty International and the director of the Okinawa Human Rights Association, where he dedicated himself to human rights and anti-war peace efforts. In 2014, Parsons coordinated a project to send letters to then President Barack Obama to petition the construction of the new base in Henoko, Nago City.
(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)
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