Catholic Church in Japan

The Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. In 2005, there were approximately 509,000 Catholics in Japan—just under 0.5% of the total population,[1] and by 2014, there were around 440,000 Japanese Catholics.[2] There are 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses,[3] with 1589 priests and 848 parishes in the country.[1] The bishops of the dioceses form the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, the episcopal conference of the nation.


Catholic Church in Japan
Japanese: 日本のカトリック教会
The Tabira Catholic Church, Hirado, Nagasaki
TypeNational polity
ClassificationCatholic
OrientationAsian Christianity
ScriptureBible
TheologyCatholic theology
GovernanceCBCJ
PopeFrancis
PresidentJoseph Mitsuaki Takami
Apostolic NuncioJoseph Chennoth
RegionJapan
Language
HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
SeparationsProtestantism in Japan
Official websitecbcj.catholic.jp
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The current apostolic nuncio (the Holy See's diplomatic ambassador and delegate to the local church) to Japan is Archbishop Joseph Chennoth.[4]

Christianity was introduced to Japan by the Jesuits, such as the Spaniard St. Francis Xavier and the Italian Alessandro Valignano. Portuguese Catholics founded the port of Nagasaki, considered at its founding to be an important Christian center in the Far East, though this distinction is now obsolete. There is a modern Japanese translation of the whole Bible by Federico Barbaro, an Italian missionary. Nowadays, many Japanese Catholics are ethnic Japanese from Brazil and Peru and naturalized Japanese Filipinos.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, a personal ordinariate within the Catholic Church originally created as a means for Anglicans to enter communion with Rome while maintaining their patrimony, has also begun to form in Japan. As of 2015, it has two congregations.[5]

History
Main article: History of the Catholic Church in Japan
  • Japanese mosaic of Madonna and Child, in the Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth (a gift from Japanese Catholics to the church)
  • Gravestone (second from the left), in Malacca's St. Paul's Church, of Peter Martinez consecrated as the second bishop of Japan in Goa, 1595 and arrived in Nagasaki, 1596. He left in 1597 following the deaths of the 26 Martyrs of Japan. Died en route to Goa in February 1598.[6]

Organization
St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo

Episcopal Conference
Main article: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan is the Japanese episcopal conference.

Province of Nagasaki

Province of Osaka
Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan (Nagasaki)

Province of Tokyo

See also

References
  1. Catholic Hierarchy Directory
  2. Catholic News Service (20 February 2014). "Bishops set out difficulties facing Japanese Catholics". Catholic Herald. Catholic Herald Limited. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  3. GCatholic.org on the Catholic Church in Japan
  4. Apostolic Nunciature Japan
  5. "Ordinariate Community of St. Augustine of Canterbury". Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  6. Röpke, Ian (1999). Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3622-8.
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