Church in Japan notes falling numbers

(June 25, 2010) The number of Catholics in Japan is shrinking according to figures by the Japanese Church. The number of registered Catholics in the country has fallen to under 450,000, showing a decrease of 0.5% over the past year, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan (CBCJ) said. 60% of Japan’s Catholics are women. Regarding the clergy, 24 bishops, including both active and retired, were counted. The priests working in the country numbered 1,481, with 887 of them originating from Japan. The seminaries counted 91 young men studying for the priesthood, with another 38 in the minor seminary. All but three of the 35 deacons serving in the country are Japanese. The great majority of female religious, totaling 5,678, are Japanese. For the male religious, 150 of the 201 in total are natives. Some 84-96% of Japan’s over 126 million population profess Buddhism, Shintoism or a syncretism of both, with Christian forming some 2%. Over the past year, 6,914 people were baptized, with 3,594 of them being age 8 and older. Japans 16 dioceses are grouped under the metropolitan territories of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagasaki.