The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan (

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 ...

: カトリック中央協議会, Hepburn: ''Katorikku Chūo Kyōgikai''), also abbreviated as the CBCJ, is the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, representing predominantly the members of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Japanese Catholic Church. It was founded as the ''Nippon Tenshu Kokyo Kyodan'' (The Japanese Catholic Religious Body). After the implementation and execution of the Religious Corporations Act, the body was renamed the CBCJ, becoming a religious

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

as classified under

Japanese law The law of Japan refers to the legal system in Japan, which is primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with precedents also playing an important role. Japan has a civil law legal system with six legal codes, which were greatly influenced b ...

. As specified in Canons 447 - 459 of the

Code of Canon Law Code of Canon Law () may refer to: * '' Corpus Juris Canonici'' ('Body of Canon Law'), a collection of sources of canon law of the Catholic Church applicable to the Latin Church until 1918 * 1917 ''Code of Canon Law'', code of canon law for the Ca ...

, the main purpose of the organisation is to deliberate on matters concerning the Japanese Catholic Church and to encourage active practice of the Catholic faith and ministries. The head office of the corporation is located in

Kōtō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2025, the ward has an estimated population of 543,730, and a population density of . The total ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Organisation

Membership

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan is composed of multiple types of bishops: the diocesan bishops as well as their auxiliary and

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

s. It also includes of honorary bishops appointed by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

or the organisation for specific tasks. * President of the Conference * Vice President * Members (Diocesan bishops,

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

s, coadjutor bishops, honorary bishops) * Bishop in Charge The Conference is further divided into various groups, each with their functions and level of seniority within the organisation. They consist of the Standing Committee, Plenary Assemblies, Special Committees, and Sections directly under the Standing Committees.

Governance

The Standing Committee is the central executive organ of the corporation, which represents the Conference when the Plenary Assembly is not in session. the Committee consists of several individuals: * President and Vice President of the Conference * 5 additional members selected in a session of the Plenary Assembly. The duties of the Committee include the administration of the Conference, the agenda preparation for the Plenary Assemblies, the annual budget, the presentation of the statement of accounts, directions of the General Secretariat, etc. The current chair of the Standing Committee is

Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, SVD (; born 1 November 1958) is a Catholic Church in Japan, Japanese Catholic prelate who has served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, Archbishop of Tokyo since 2017 and president of Caritas Internationalis since M ...

, Archbishop of Tokyo.

Episcopal Commission for Social Issues

Committees

The role of the Episcopal Commission for Social Issues is to contribute to evangelisation of the Catholic faith and actively participate in solving current social issues in Japan and its Catholic Church. Members of the Commission include: * Chair, Japan Catholic Council for Social Justice and Peace * President and Vice President, Caritas Japan * Chair, Committee against BURAKU Discrimination through Human-Rights Approaches, * Chair, Catholic Commission of Japan for Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move * President of the HIV/AIDS Desk * the bishop in charge of the Protection of the Human Rights of Women and Children Desk The current chair of the Commission is Taiji Katsuya.

Committees directly affiliated with the Standing Committee

Committees affiliated with the Episcopal Commission for Social Issues

* Committees Affiliated with the Episcopal Commission for Social Issues ** Catholic Commission of Japan for Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move ** Caritas Japan ** Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace ** Committee against BURAKU Discrimination through Human-Rights Approaches ** Protection of the Human Rights of Women and Children Desk ** HIV/AIDS Desk

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Catholic Church in Japan