OSAKA, DIOCESE OF. - Suffragan of Tokyo, situated in the center of Hondo. It comprises the civil prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo, Wakayama and part of the civil prefecture of Kyoto. This territory has been of prime importance in the history of Japan, both from the point of view of the events that took place there and from the economic and commercial point of view. Just as Tokyo is the great center of the eastern region (Kanto), so Osaka is the center of the western region (Kansai).
Before the Second World War, Osaka was described as the “Manchester” of Japan, a definition justified by its flourishing industries and fully active workshops. The port of Osaka is among the principal ones in Japan. The war destroyed more than half of the buildings. Despite all efforts at reconstruction, the population, which before the war exceeded a million inhabitants, has decreased, also because of the scarcity of housing.
The territory of the present diocese of Osaka was first included in the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Japan, erected on 20 March 1888, which was detached from that of Southern Japan. The diocese was canonically erected on 15 June 1891. The first evangelizers of the region were the Jesuits, among whom Father Baldassare de Torres is to be remembered. In 1868 the priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society established themselves there, to whom the diocese remained entrusted until its transfer to the Japanese secular clergy, which took place on 30 November 1940.
With a population of about 8,000,000 inhabitants, there are 10,110 Catholics with 3,674 catechumens. There are 27 native priests and 99 foreign ones. The auxiliary personnel consists of some Australian secular priests, Benedictine monks of Saint Ottilien, Trappists, Conventual and Minor Franciscans, Jesuits, Lazarists, of the Paris Foreign Missions, Redemptorists, Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Marianists, Salesians of Saint John Bosco, Scheutists, and members of the Society of Saint Columban.
Native brothers: 3; foreign: 12; native sisters: 273 and 110 foreign; catechists: 8; 2 elementary schools; 12 middle schools; 11 high schools; 1 vocational school; 43 primary stations; 67 sacred buildings; 3 dispensaries; 4 hospitals; 5 orphanages. A periodical is published there under the title Koe.
