 Catholic Church in Japan | |
|---|---|
| Japanese: 日本のカトリック教会 | |
 The Tabira Catholic Church, Hirado, Nagasaki | |
| Type | National polity |
| Classification | Catholic |
| Orientation | Asian Christianity, Latin |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Theology | Catholic theology |
| Governance | Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan |
| Pope | Pope Francis |
| CBCJ President | Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Archbishop of Tokyo |
| Apostolic Nuncio | Leo Boccardi |
| Region | Japan |
| Language | |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Separations | Protestantism in Japan |
| Members | 431,100 (2021) |
| Places of worship | 957 |
| Tertiary institutions | Sophia University, Nanzan University, Elisabeth University of Music |
| Official website | cbcj |
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The Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. As of 2021, there were approximately 431,100 Catholics in Japan (0.34% of the total population), 6,200 of whom are clerics, religious and seminarians.[1] Japan has 15 dioceses, including three metropolitan archdioceses, with 34 bishops, 1,235 priests, and 40 deacons[2] spread out across 957 churches (parishes, quasi-parishes, mission stations, and assembly centres).[3]
The bishops of the dioceses form the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, the episcopal conference of the nation. The main liturgical rites employed in Japan are those of the Latin Church.
The current apostolic nuncio, who serves as the Holy See's diplomatic ambassador and delegate to the local church in Japan, is Archbishop Francisco Escalante Molina.[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 Filipino Japanese.
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]
- ^ Statistics of the Catholic Church in Japan. "Catholics in Japan", p. 1. Tokyo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan. Retrieved from https://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/statistics2021.pdf.
- ^ Statistics of the Catholic Church in Japan. "Clergy", p. 5. Tokyo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan. Retrieved from https://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/statistics2021.pdf.
- ^ "Facilities" (PDF). Statistics of the Catholic Church in Japan. Tokyo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan. August 2022. p. 2.
- ^ "Japan (Nunciature) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
- ^ "Ordinariate Community of St. Augustine of Canterbury". Retrieved 12 February 2015.