ASIA/JAPAN - Appointment of Bishop of Takamatsu

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI, on 25 March 2011, accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Takamatsu (Japan), presented by Mons. Francis Xavier Osamu Mizobe, S.D.B., in conformity with canon 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. The Holy Father appointed as Bishop of the Diocese of Takamatsu (Japan), Fr John Eijiro Suwa, from the clergy of Osaka, Moderator and Parish Priest of the pastoral area of Kochi, Takamatsu.
Fr John Eijiro Suwa was born on 8 July 1947 in Kobe, Prefecture of Osaka, Archdiocese of Osaka. He completed his secondary studies at Rokko Catholic Institute, and entered the Major Seminary of Tokyo, where he completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology, before being ordained a priest in Osaka, on 26 November 1976. After ordination he held the following ministries: 1976-1979: assistant parish priest of Sonoda; 1979-1981: assistant parish priest of Kori; 1981-1983: assistant parish priest of Shukugawa; 1983-1986: assistant parish priest of Tamazukuri; 1986-1988: Rector of the Minor Seminary of Osaka; 1988-1989: Sabbatical year in the Philippines; 1989-1995: parish priest of Takatsuki; 1995-1997: parish priest of Sumiyoshi; 1997-2000: parish priest of Nakayamate, Shimoyama and Nada; 2000-2002: Moderator for the pastoral area of Chuo in Kobe; 2002-2005: parish priest of the pastoral area of Chuo and Sumiyoshi; since 2005 he has been based in the Diocese of Takamatsu to assist Bishop Mizobe as Moderator and parish priest of the pastoral area of Kochi.
The Diocese of Takamatsu, created in 1927, has an area of 18,903 sq km and a population of 4,031,481 inhabitants, of whom 5,100 are Catholic. There are 26 parishes, 46 priests (16 diocesan and 30 religious), 84 sisters and 16 major seminarians. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/03/2011)