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 'pre ...

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 Prefect of Nagoya from 1945, and consecrated

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

in 1962 when the prefecture was elevated to diocese. He served as Bishop of Nagoya until his retirement in 1969.

Biography

Magoshiro Matsuoka was born in

Urakami Urakami was an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan. History In 1614, by the orders of shōgun leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, Christianity was banned in Japan in order to suppress European influence and to prevent the undermining of ...

(now part of the city of

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

). Matsuoka's family practiced Christianity in secret, facing constant persecution and were exiled from their home in 1868 during the fourth Christian purge, escaping to

Tsuwano, Shimane is a town located in Kanoashi District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town has an estimated population of 7,478 and a density of 25.0 persons per km². The total area is 307.09 km². Description Tsuwano is remotely loca ...

until 1873. Named for his grandfather who died in exile in Tsuwano, Matsuoka entered the Catholic school at Ōura in 1901 and was

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 ...

to the priesthood on February 21, 1918. Matsuoka first served as pastor of the Magome Church on Iojima Island, and was appointed to the Apostolic prefecture of Niigata and the Apostolic prefecture of Nagoya in 1941, where he served concurrently as Apostolic Administrator. In 1945, Matsuoka was elevated to

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of both. Matsuoka resigned as prefect of Niigata in 1953 to concentrate on the construction of a new reinforced concrete cathedral ( St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral) and the Kogami School in Nagoya. Upon Nagoya's elevation to

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

, Matsuoka received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on June 3, 1962 at the brand new St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral from Apostolic Internuncio in Japan, Archbishop

Domenico Enrici Domenico Enrici (9 April 1909 – 3 December 1997) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Domenico Enrici was born on 9 April 1909 in Cervasca, Province of Cuneo, It ...

, with Archbishop Paul Aijirô Yamaguchi and Bishop

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 ...

, as co-consecrators. Matsuoka participated in all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. Following his retirement from Nagoya in June 1969, he served as

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

Belli The Belli, also designated Beli or Belaiscos were an ancient pre-Roman Celtic Celtiberian people who lived in the modern Spanish province of Zaragoza from the 3rd Century BC. Origins Roman authors for unknown reasons wrote that the Belli wer ...

and Bishop Emeritus of Nagoya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuoka, Peter Magoshiro 1887 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Japan Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Nagasaki Japanese Roman Catholic bishops