Roman Catholicism in Japan

Japanese mosaic of Madonna and Child, in the Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth (a gift from Japanese Catholics to the church).

The Roman Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Roman 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.[1] There are 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses[2] 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.

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.

Catholicism, as well as Christianity in general, was introduced to Japan by Portuguese explorers and missionaries, particularly by 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 done by Federico Barbaro, a missioner. Nowadays, a large number of Japanese Catholics are ethnic Japanese from Brazil.

History

Roman Catholic Dioceses in Japan

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.[3]

Province of Osaka

Province of Tokyo

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Catholic Hierarchy Directory
  2. ↑ GCatholic.org on the Catholic Church in Japan
  3. ↑ Röpke, Ian (1999). Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810836228.

External links

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