The politically and theologically hyper-conservative Japanese Catholic novelist and commentator Ayako Sono earlier this year wrote, "Old people are growing more and more selfish. Human beings have an obligation to die at a suitable time."

I have yet to hear if, when or how the 84-year-old Sono herself plans to do something in response to her own admonition. Of course with more than 60,000 centenarians in Japan, Sono might argue that she is not yet one of the "old people."

According to just-released census figures, more than one quarter of Japan's residents are 65 years of age or over.

Japanese have the world's highest life expectancy. However, the birth rate ranks 244^th among the world's nations, barely above the Vatican in the listings. That low birth rate exacerbates the problems of an aging society as the percentage of wage earners and taxpayers declines. It is estimated that within 50 years, nearly 40 percent of the population will be 65 or over and the overall population will be 30 percent less than it is now. So, there may be only one worker to support each pensioner. Population decline has already begun.

The signs of Japan's aging are increasing. Here and there in Tokyo, sidewalks are being torn up for the construction of kiosks that will contain elevators to provide access to the subway system for passengers no longer able to climb multiple staircases to and from underground train platforms.

It has been obvious for decades that Japan needs to open its borders to immigration if it is to have the workers and citizens it already lacks. Sadly, it is equally obvious that Japanese society is unwilling to accept such immigrants.

Last year, Sono wrote an article favorably citing South Africa's abandoned policy of apartheid as a model for dealing with any foreigners who might one day be allowed to come to Japan to become workers and taxpayers. She suggested that they should be forced to live in segregated communities. I don't know if Sono's plan would include the numerous foreign-born priests and religious who serve the Japanese church. It is unlikely that the Japanese church will follow her suggestion to its absurd conclusion and support comfortable concentration camps for its foreign members.

But, what is the Japanese church as an institution doing in response to the demographic disaster facing its country?

Not much.

Though children are getting scarcer and schools throughout the country are being closed for lack of pupils, the public service of the Catholic Church is still largely focused upon competing with public and other institutions for the shrinking population of small children.

As of the end of 2015, various elements of the Catholic Church in Japan ran 524 kindergartens, 128 day nurseries and 119 other facilities for children. Most of those kindergartens are connected with parishes that are increasingly gathering places for the elderly who were once the young people for whose children the institutions were opened.

On the other hand, the Catholic response to the increasing population of the elderly consisted of merely 67 nursing homes and 161 miscellaneous other facilities, a decrease from the year before.

Can we claim that the Catholic Church in Japan is analyzing the bad news Japan faces and is striving to present the hope of Good News in the face of that challenge? We are ignoring the signs of the times.

And what are some elements of Japan's demographic bad news that call for a response from Catholics and their church?

One is increasing poverty among the elderly. According to press reports, 20-25 percent of people over age 65 live below the poverty line, and more than half the households receiving government welfare are those of seniors. That, of course, has an impact upon their diet and other factors that determine their health.

Many of those seniors are living alone. Nearly one-third of households in Japan consist of a single person. Of those over 65, about 12 percent of men and 20 percent of women live alone. Loneliness, isolation, lack of care givers, poor diet etc. all negatively impact their physical and mental health.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, about 4.62 million people had dementia in 2012, and the figure will likely rise to 7 million by 2025.

Industry is developing robotic companions for the elderly as well as robot workers for the institutions that serve them. There are programs to bring caregivers from overseas to take the low-paying and difficult jobs that care for the elderly require. But, cute robots and temporary visas will not suffice.

If the church in Japan were to make facing the demographic dilemma (which is also a feature of the church itself) a priority, there are several things that could be done.

One quick and easy one would be to convert the glut of unneeded kindergartens into neighborhood day care centers for the elderly, places where they can find companionship, a nourishing meal and activities to maintain mental and physical health. The tea salons that Caritas Japan has conducted in the temporary housing complexes opened after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami show the feasibility, importance and ease of running such programs.

Through cooperation with churches in other countries, the Japanese church could provide visa sponsorship for lay and religious Catholics who would come to the country specifically to serve in church programs aimed at the needs of the aging population.

Young Catholics (a shrinking but dedicated group) should be encouraged to make vocational choices that will put their talents to work in facing the demographic challenge that faces their church and country.

And, the bishops and other leaders must take a more public and forceful role in calling the nation and church to respond to the crisis. This should include challenging the national reluctance to welcome immigrants to re-invigorate and re-populate Japan.

The church's mission is to proclaim Good News in the face of the world's bad news. Japan's already detonated demographic time bomb is probably the worst news the country faces, and therefore the best challenge and opportunity for the Gospel.

Father William Grimm, MM, is publisher of ucanews.com and is based in Tokyo.