SIDOTTI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. — Born in Palermo in 1668 to a noble family, died in Japan in October–November 1715. He was a priest and missionary.
Auditor of the Roman Rota, he set out for the Far East with the legation of Cardinal de Tournon (q.v.), stopping in the Philippines in 1704 with the aim of entering Japan. In Manila, he first cared for the sick at the Royal Hospital, which he managed to expand, and then worked for the construction of the Seminary of St. Clement for natives, completed through his efforts. He secured a good number of Discalced Augustinian missionaries for the service of Japan. On 22 August 1708, he left with some Japanese for Japan, arriving there on 10 October. Betrayed and immediately captured, he underwent numerous interrogations during which, though confessing to being a Catholic priest, he managed to win sympathy and avoid the death penalty. On 28 October 1709, he was transferred to the Kirishitan Yashiki prison near Tokyo, supported by the benevolence of the shogun himself. There, in 1714, he was able to baptize his two jailers and perhaps others. When this became known, he was placed under the strictest surveillance. Meanwhile, on 27 August 1714, Propaganda had appointed him Apostolic Vicar of Japan. Sidotti’s was the last attempt by the Church to save the Christians of Japan.