The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tokyo ( la, Archidioecesis Tokiensis, ja, カトリック東京大司教区) is an ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

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 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Japan on May 1, 1846, by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

, and its name was later changed by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

to the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Japan on May 22, 1876. It was elevated to the

Metropolitan Archdiocese A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

on June 15, 1891, with the

suffragan sees A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of Niigata, Saitama,

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

, and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi is a Japanese Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Divine Word Missionaries who has been serving as Archbishop of Tokyo since his appointment in 2017. He was a former worker in the missions of Ghana in Western Africa. Prior t ...

, S.V.D., previously serving as Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata The Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata ( la, Niigataën(sis), Japanese language, Japanese: カトリック新潟教区 ) is a diocese located in the city of Niigata, Niigata, Niigata in the Ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ...

, was appointed Archbishop of the Tokyo Archdiocese on October 25, 2017.

History

The Evangelization of Japan starts in 1549 with the arrival of

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...

and goes on until 1587 when

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

issued the edict forbidding Christianity and ordering all missionaries to leave Japan. In the following years of persecution, also in Edo (now Tokyo), there were cases of martyrdom in 1612 and 1623. After the “seclusion period”, the first missionaries of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

arrived in Japan in 1858 and were stationed in the three ports of

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 ...

and

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

. On 1 May 1846, Vicariate Apostolic of Japan was erected. On 22 May 1876, the vicariate apostolic was divided in two: the

Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Japan The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki ( la, Nagasakien(sis), ja, カトリック長崎大司教区) is an archdiocese located in the city of Nagasaki in Japan. History * May 22, 1876: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Japan f ...

with its center in Nagasaki and Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Japan with its center in Tokyo.

Pierre Marie Osouf Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

was the first

Ordinary (Catholic Church) An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...

of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Japan. On April 17, 1891. the Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Japan was divided into the Archdiocese of Tokyo and the

Diocese of Hakodate The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sendai ( la, Sendaiensis, ja, カトリック仙台教区) is a diocese of the Western Latin Church of the Catholic Church centered in the city of Sendai. It is within the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic ...

. Pierre Marie Osouf became the first Archbishop of Tokyo. On August 13, 1912, the Archdiocese of Tokyo ceded the prefectures of

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

and Ishikawa to the newly established Prefecture Apostolic of Niigata, and on February 18, 1922, the prefectures of

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

and

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

were ceded to the newly established Prefecture Apostolic of Nagoya. In November 1937, Tokyo was entrusted to the Japanese clergy and confined to

Tokyo-to Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

and the

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. The remaining territory was detached to form the Diocese of Yokohama. The first Archbishop selected from among the Japanese clergy was Archbishop Peter Tatsu Doi.

List of ordinaries

Théodore-Augustin Forcade Théodore-Augustin Forcade (1816–1885) was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Early life Théodore-Augustin Forcade was born on March 2, 1816, in Versailles near Paris.

, MEP (1846 - 1852) * C. Collin ( 1852 - ?) * Bernard-Thadée Petitjean, MEP (1866 - 1876) *

Pierre-Marie Osouf Pierre-Marie is a French masculine given name, and may refer to: * Pierre-Marie Carré (born 1947), French prelate of the Catholic Church * Pierre-Marie Coty (1927–2020), Ivorian Roman Catholic bishop * Pierre-Marie Delfieux (1934–2013), Fre ...

, MEP (1876 - 1906) * Pierre-Xavier Mugabure, MEP (1906 - 1910) * François Bonne, MEP (1910 - 1912) * Jean-Pierre Rey, MEP (1912 - 1926) * Jean-Baptiste-Alexis Chambon, MEP (1927 - 1937) *(Cardinal)

Peter Tatsuo Doi Peter Tatsuo Doi (土井辰雄 ''Doi Tatsuo'') (22 December 1892 – 21 February 1970) was a Japanese Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002) "Doi Tatsuo"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 157. He served as Archbishop of ...

(1937 - 1970) *(Cardinal) Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi (1970 - 2000) *

Peter Takeo Okada was a Japanese prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Tokyo from 2000 to 2017. Okada was born in Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with the LL.B. He was ordained a priest on 3 November ...

(2000 - 2017) *

(2017–present)

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Christianity in Tokyo

1846 establishments in Japan

History

List of ordinaries

See also

References

External links