The Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata ( la, Niigataën(sis),

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: カトリック新潟教区 ) is a

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 ...

located in the city of Niigata in the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

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

in Japan. The apparitions of

Our Lady of Akita Our Lady of Akita ( ja, 秋田の聖母マリア) is the Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with the Marian apparitions reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, an outskirt of Akita, Ja ...

were within its territory and Bishop John Shojiro Ito initially approved the apparitions in 1984.

History

French botanist Father Urbain Faurie was one of the early missionaries to the Niigata area, who arrived in Japan in July 1873. On August 13, 1912, the Apostolic Prefecture of Niigata was established from part of 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 ...

. The first Apostolic Prefect was Msgr. Joseph Reiners S.V.D. of the Society of the Divine Word. On April 16, 1962 the Prefecture was raised to a Diocese; the first bishop was John Shojiro Ito. In 1984, the Grey Nuns of the Cross (Sisters of Charity of Ottawa) established the Élisabeth Bruyère Convent in the city of Yamagata, where they worked closely with the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

. The sisters' apostolate includes parish ministry, teaching kindergarten, as well as, at the Maria Komakusa Day Care Center. They also minister to the elderly. On October 25, 2017, Bishop Kikuchi was appointed Archbishop of Tokyo. The See of Niigata became vacant and the Kikuchi was appointed Apostolic Administrator.

Leadership

; Bishops of Niigata * Paul Daisuke Narui (May 31, 2020 – present) * Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi (タルチシオ菊地功), S.V.D. (September 20, 2004 – October 25, 2017) * Francis Keiichi Sato (フランシスコ佐藤敬一), O.F.M. (March 9, 1985 – May 14, 2004) * John Shojiro Ito (使徒ヨハネ伊藤庄治郎) (April 4, 1962 – March 9, 1985) ; Prefects Apostolic of Niigata 新潟 * John Baptist Tokisuke Noda (ヨハネ・バプティスタ野田時助) (March 13, 1953 – October 11, 1961) * Peter Magoshiro Matsuoka (ペトロ松岡孫四郎) (1941 – 1953) * Anton Ceska (アントン・テェスカ), S.V.D. (June 28, 1926 – 1941) * Joseph Reiners (ヨゼフ・ライネルス), S.V.D. (19 November 1912 – June 28, 1926)

References

External links

GCatholic.org

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niigata Roman Catholic dioceses in Japan Roman Catholic dioceses established in 1991 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1991 establishments in Japan

History

Leadership

See also

References

External links