SAPPORO, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Located on the large island of Hokkaidō in northern Japan, it comprises the whole of it with an area of 78,461 sq km and 4,185,506 inhabitants.
On 12 Feb. 1915 the territory of Hokkaidō (except the civil district of Oshima and the capital city Hakodate), together with the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin, was detached from the diocese of Sendai (then Hakodate) and erected into an apostolic prefecture, and on 30 March 1929 into the apostolic vicariate of S. Subsequently, on 1 July 1935, the southern part of Sakhalin was detached from it and erected into a mission sui iuris, which was elevated to the apostolic prefecture of Karafuto (v.) on 21 May 1938. By decree of Propaganda Fide, dated 19 June 1952, the aforementioned district of Oshima with the city of Hakodate was detached from the diocese of Sendai and annexed to the vicariate of S. The German Franciscan Friars Minor of the province of St. Elizabeth in 1909 undertook the evangelization of Hokkaidō and kept the mission of S. entrusted to them until its transfer to the Japanese secular clergy, which took place on 21 Nov. 1940, with the appointment of an apostolic administrator. The vast area of Hokkaidō (one fifth of all Japan) is no longer a semi-desert as it once was, but there has developed in it
(Int. Fide)
Japan's most important coal industry. Having lost the war, the Japanese, driven back from Asia, determined to populate and develop that region, so rich in natural resources.
The apostolic vicariate of S. has 5506 Catholics, with 879 catechumens. There are 28 priests, of whom 10 are native and 18 foreign; 16 brothers; 87 sisters, 3 major and 6 minor seminarians; 4 catechists; 30 male and 80 female teachers; 2 doctors and 10 nurses. Works of assistance and teaching: a hospital; a pharmacy; 2 high schools; 2 vocational schools; 1 teachers' training school. The mission has 3 forane vicariates; 20 primary and 14 secondary stations, with 6 churches and 17 chapels.
Bibliography5 works
Edoardo Pecoraro