TOKYO (UCAN): On 28 December 2021, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had named Auxiliary Bishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki, Japan, as archbishop after he had accepted the resignation of outgoing Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, who reached the canonical retirement age of 75.
The Archdiocese of Nagasaki is considered an important part of the Church in Japan because of its strong Catholic presence and historical importance.
Archbishop Takami has been an advocate of peace and a campaigner against nuclear weapons. In 2010, during a speech at the United Nations, he called the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II “a total denial of human dignity.”
He served the archdiocese as auxiliary bishop from 2002 to 2003 and as archbishop since 2003. He also headed the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan for a term since 2016.
In a pastoral letter, Archbishop Takami said, “Let us pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s blessing on the health and work of Archbishop Michiaki Nakamura, and for the growth and development of the Church community in Nagasaki, with the intercession of Mary. I would be very grateful if you would also like to pray for me as well.”
Archbishop-elect Nakamura was born on 21 March 1962, in Saikai-city of Nagasaki prefecture. He attended Nagasaki Minor Seminary and then studied philosophy and theology at San Sulpizio Major Seminary in Fukuoka. He later studied at the Alfonsian Academy in Rome and obtained a licentiate in moral theology in 1994.
He was ordained a priest on 19 March 1988.
Following ordination, he served as a formator in the Minor Seminary of the Archdiocese of Nagasaki [1988-1989]; vicar in the parish of Nakamachi [1989-1991]; formator in the Minor Seminary (1994-1999); vicar in the Cathedral of Urakami [1999-2002]; parish priest of Togitsu [2002-2005]; formator in the Major Seminary in Fukuoka [2005-2007]; parish priest of Uematsu [2007-2014].
He also taught moral theology at the Major Seminaries of Fukuoka and Tokyo.
Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Nagasaki in 2019.
Church data from 2019 shows there were some 540,496 Catholics across 16 dioceses including three archdioceses in Japan.
