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| Catholic Church in Japan | |
| Native Name: | Japanese: {{Ruby-ja|日本|にほん |
| Imagewidth: | 300px |
| Type: | National polity |
| Main Classification: | Catholic |
| Orientation: | Asian Christianity, Latin |
| Scripture: | Bible |
| Theology: | Catholic theology |
| Governance: | Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan |
| Leader Title: | Pope |
| Leader Name: | Pope Francis |
| Leader Title1: | CBCJ President |
| Leader Name1: | Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Archbishop of Tokyo |
| Leader Title2: | Apostolic Nuncio |
| Leader Name2: | Leo Boccardi |
| Area: | Japan |
| Headquarters: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Separations: | Protestantism in Japan |
| Members: | 431,100 (2021) |
| Churches: | 957 |
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 Leo Boccardi.[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]
See main article: History of the Catholic Church in Japan. Christian missionaries arrived with Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 100,000 converts, including many daimyōs in Kyushu. It soon met resistance from the highest office holders of Japan. Emperor Ōgimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587, with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity.[6] After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620 it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming, while others died. Only after the Meiji Restoration was Christianity re-established in Japan.
See main article: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, List of Catholic dioceses in Japan and Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan is the Japanese episcopal conference, which serves as the main decision-making body of the Church in Japan. The current President of the CBCJ is Isao Kikuchi.[7]
The Catholic Church in Japan is divided into three ecclesiastical provinces with a total of 15 dioceses, three of which are metropolitan archdioceses. Japan has no military ordinariate compared with its neighbour South Korea. However, it does share a personal ordinariate with two other countries, Australia and the Philippines.
The Catholic Church in Japan is organised into 15 dioceses, 3 of which are classified as metropolitan dioceses that head each of the 3 ecclesiastical provinces in the country.
The Catholic Church is involved in religious education in Japan, providing learning opportunities to both Catholic and non-Catholic students. According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, Japan has a total of 828 Catholic educational institutions. The Church operates different types of schools, which can be seen below:[8]
| Kindergartens | 515 | |
| Primary schools | 53 | |
| Middle and high schools | 217 | |
| Colleges and universities | 32 | |
| Colleges of technology | 1 | |
| Vocational colleges | 4 | |
| Schools for special needs education | 1 | |
| Miscellaneous schools | 5 |
Other Catholic universities in Japan include Nanzan University (Nagoya, Aichi) and the Elisabeth University of Music (Hiroshima, Hiroshima).
Founded in 1986, the Committee for Promoting Canonisation, which is directly affiliated with the Standing Committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, is responsible for promoting Japan's canonisation efforts and recognition of its martyrs. Its main objectives are to support local dioceses in promoting cases for canonisation, support canonisation promoted by the Conference, and promotion devotions to Japanese Catholic martyrs.
All Catholic martyrs in Japan, both native Japanese and foreign missionaries, were persecuted and killed during the Sakoku period of Japanese isolationism. Some of the groups of martyrs and individual martyrs were later canonised and venerated as saints in the Church's liturgical calendar.
| Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan (also known as St. Paul Miki and Companions) | 1597 | First group of Catholic martyrs in Japan. Executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki on 5 February 1597. | 14 September 1627 by Pope Urban VIII | 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX | 6 February | |
| 205 Martyrs of Japan | 1598 - 1632 | 205 missionaries and Hidden Christians who were persecuted and executed in a period of 20 years for their faith. | 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX | 10 September | ||
| Augustinian Recollects Martyrs | 1632 | Two missionary Augustinian Recollects who left the Philippines to evangelise the Japanese. They fled into the mountains to escape persecution but were later arrested and killed when they descended into the city. Martyred in Nagasaki on 11 December 1632. | 23 April 1989 by Pope John Paul II | 11 December | ||
| Sixteen Martyrs of Japan | 1633 - 1637 | 16 Hidden Christians who were martyred for their faith from 1633 to 1637. | 18 February 1981 by Pope John Paul II | 18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II | 28 September | |
| 188 Martyrs of Japan[12] | 1603 -1639 | Additional priests and Catholics who were persecuted and martyred from 1603 to 1639. | 24 November 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI |
There are some minor differences between the mass in Japan and the mass in other countries. For example, before Communion, most languages quote from the centurion of Matthew 8 ("Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed"). In Japanese, however, the saying is 「主よ、あなたは神の子キリスト、永遠の命の糧、あなたをおいてだれのところへ行きましょう」 (Rōmaji : shu yo, anata wa kami no ko Kirisuto, eien no inochi no kate, anata o oite dare no tokoro e ikimashō; English: "Lord, you are the Christ, the Son of God, the bread of eternal life, to whom shall I leave thee?"),[13] taken from quotes of Simon Peter in John 6 and Matthew 16.