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“Many of us who were there in the 1980s will remember her crisscrossing the corridors of the Ecumenical Centre in her wheelchair, and her precious contributions to the celebrations in the chapel,” recalled Hubert van Beek, who worked at the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 1992 to 2004 in the office of Church and Ecumenical Relations.
“And there was, for her, no place in the world where she would not travel,” van Beek added.
“Once she called from the Frankfurt airport to say that she had broken her leg,” he recalled. “It turned out to be a wheel of her chair, and she gave the people from a church in Frankfurt, where she had called for help, no rest until it was repaired and she could continue her journey.”
Anjeline Okola, programme coordinator for the WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, recalled Katsuno as a very dynamic woman in the ecumenical movement and—despite being a paraplegic—was in air travel terms, a "complete carry-on” who loved travelling and interacting with the churches on disability inclusion.
"Having been the pioneer of the work on disability inclusion within WCC, she paved the way for the current work within the WCC and her member churches,” said Okola. “She was ‘our’ liturgist whom we gladly shared with other ecumenical partners whenever there was a big gathering anywhere in the world and it was not surprising finding her liturgy being used in places that she had not been as her liturgy always had a life of its own, going to places where the prayers, readings, and music she wrote was needed for the worship life of the faithful.”
Okola added: “All she needed was the concept paper and the Biblical text after which she could come up with a beautiful liturgy that enhanced our worship life while at the same time celebrating and strengthening our faith journey. We will surely miss her.”
Katsuno was a third generation Japanese Canadian and had a permanent physical disability since 1973. From 1970 to 1983, she was an elementary school teacher in Toronto, Canada. She was a member of the Anglican Church of Canada, but also did much work with the United Church of Canada. She was a liturgist and musician.
Following the WCC 6th Assembly in 1983 in Vancouver, Canada, she joined the WCC staff, staying in Geneva until the end of 1991 and officially forming the "desk" that worked on the issues of disabilities.
“My love and passion for music and liturgy became a huge part of the work I did for the WCC, along with a commitment to women's concerns,” Katsuno wrote.
She helped write and animate daily worship for several meetings of the WCC central committee, and served as part of the in-house Worship Committee for the WCC 7th Assembly in Canberra. She also wrote, coordinated, and animated daily worship for the Pre-Assembly Women's Meetings for both the WCC 7th Assembly in Canberra and WCC 8th Assembly in Harare.
After moving back to Canada, she wrote and facilitated daily worship for the 1988, 1994, and 1997 Triennial Assemblies for the Canadian Council of Churches; the 1991 International Assembly for the global YMCA (held in Seoul); the International Assembly of the World Association of Christian Communicators held in 1995 in Bangkok; plus many conferences and gatherings for both the Anglican and United Church of Canada.
She worked with her parish team for a Toronto-based program called, "Out of the Cold,” which provides a home-cooked meal and overnight shelter during the winter months for people who call the streets of Toronto “home."
She wrote: “Many people have physical and mental disabilities and we provide sanctuary and resources for them to receive assistance. It is so important to find clean, secure lodging, good food, where all are invited to participate in the circle of life.”
In April 2012, she was a guest speaker at the Toronto School of Theology (University of Toronto), where the topic was “The Church and Human Rights.”
She wrote: “Our workshop focused on the area of disability issues. My task was to share much of the global issues and work as revealed through the WCC.”
Her publications include: "God Has Called Us" (WCC, 1992) and "Of Rolling waters and Roaring Wind" (WCC, 2002).
A Requiem Mass will be held for Katsuno on 7 September at 2 pm local time at the church of St Mary Magdalena, her home parish. A link to a live stream of the service may be found at
www.stmarymagdalene.ca/livestreams.
