Joseph Asajirô Satowaki (里脇浅次郎 ''Satowaki Asajirō'') (February 1, 1904—August 8, 1996) was a Japanese

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as Archbishop of Nagasaki from 1968 to 1990, and was elevated to the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

in 1979.

Early life

Satowaki was born in Shitsu, and studied at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Pontifical Urbaniana University in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

As a seminarian in Rome, he invited the

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Conventual Franciscan

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

and future

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Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; pl, Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp ...

to come to Japan as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on December 17, 1932, he did pastoral work in the Diocese of Nagasaki and served as procurator and episcopal chancellor. He was

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Taiwan from 1941 to 1945, and rector of the seminary of Nagasaki from 1945 to 1947. Between 1945 and 1955, he served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

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of diocesan

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, and a

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at the Junshin School.

Archbishop

On February 25, 1955, Satowaki was appointed Bishop of Kagoshima by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 3 from Archbishop Maximilien de Furstenberg, with Bishops Paul Aijirô Yamaguchi and

Paul Yoshigoro Taguchi was a Japanese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Osaka from 1941 until his death in 1978, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973. Taguchi was born in Sotome, Nagasaki (now part of the city of Nagasaki). Aft ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at the church of Our Lady of the Martyrs in Nagasaki. He attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

from 1962 to 1965, and was promoted to Archbishop of Nagasaki on December 19, 1968. He also served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the Japanese Episcopal Conference.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

created him Cardinal Priest of '' S. Maria della Pace'' in the consistory of June 30, 1979. He was the third cardinal from Japan. After a 21-year-long tenure, he resigned as Archbishop on February 8, 1990. Satowaki died in Nagasaki, aged 92. He is buried in the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

of Akagi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satowaki, Joseph Asjiro 1904 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Japan Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Japanese cardinals Participants in the Second Vatican Council Catholic University of America alumni 20th-century cardinals Japanese Roman Catholic archbishops