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).

The Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. There are approximately 509,000 Catholics in Japan—just under 0.5% of the total population. There are 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses, with 1589 priests and 848 parishes in the country. The bishops of the dioceses form the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, the episcopal conference of the nation.

The current Apostolic nuncio to Japan is Italian Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello. Archbishop Bottari de Castello is the Holy See's ambassador to Japan as well as its delegate to the local church.

Christianity was introduced to Japan by Portuguese explorers and missionaries, particularly the Jesuits, such as the Spaniard St. Francis Xavier and the Italian Alessandro Valignano. Portuguese Catholics also founded the city 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, a large number of Japanese Catholics are ethnic Japanese from Brazil.

History

Main article: History of Roman Catholicism in Japan

Organization

Episcopal Conference

Main article: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan

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

Dioceses by region

Province of Nagasaki

Gravestone (second from the left), in Melaka'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.

• Archdiocese of Nagasaki
• Diocese of Fukuoka
• Diocese of Kagoshima
• Diocese of Naha
• Diocese of Oita

Province of Osaka

• Archdiocese of Osaka
• Diocese of Hiroshima
• Diocese of Kyoto
• Diocese of Nagoya
• Diocese of Takamatsu

Province of Tokyo

• Archdiocese of Tokyo
• Diocese of Niigata
• Diocese of Saitama
• Diocese of Sapporo
• Diocese of Sendai
• Diocese of Yokohama

See also

• Federico Barbaro
• Christianity in Japan
• Francis Xavier
• List of Saints from Asia
• Kirishitan
• History of Roman Catholicism in Japan
• Taro Aso
• Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan
• St. Lorenzo Ruiz
• Silence the acclaimed historical novel by Shusaku Endo drawn from the oral histories of the "Hidden Christian" communities (Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan) that survived the 17th century state suppression of the Catholic Church in Japan.
• Our Lady of Akita

External links

• GCatholic.org on the Catholic Church in Japan
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan
• The Holy See — The Vatican's Official Website
• Roman Catholic churches in Japan
• Catholic Diocese in Japan geographically