Bishop of Kagoshima
Rev. Francis Xavier Hiroaki Nakano was born on 15 April 1951 in Kagoshima. He studied philosophy and theology at the San Sulpizio Major Seminary in Fukuoka. He obtained a licentiate in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. He was ordained a priest on 2 April 1978 for the diocese of Kagoshima. Since priestly ordination he has held the following positions: secretary to the bishop and editor of the diocesan newspaper (1978-1981); parish vicar of Kamaoike (1981-1984); specialization studies in Rome (1984-1988); parish priest of Tamazato (1988-1993); parish priest of Naze (1993-2005); chancellor of the diocese of Kagoshima (2005-2009); parish priest of Saint Francis Xavier (2009-2011); formator in the Catholic Seminary of Japan (2011-2013); pastor of the parish of Shibushi (for a few months in 2011); vice-rector of the Japan Catholic Seminary (2013-2017); and rector of the Japan Catholic Seminary (since 2017).