Bishop Bernard Taiji Katsuya

Bishop Bernard Taiji Katsuya, Bishop of Sapporo, was born on December 2, 1955, in the city of Muroran, Hokkaido, in the Diocese of Sapporo. He completed the Sakae lyceum of Muroran in 1974 and in 1979 obtained a diploma in letters, specialising in psychology, from Senshu University in Tokyo. He completed his theological studies at Sophia University in Tokyo in 1985. He was ordained a priest on April 29, 1986, and incardinated in the Diocese of Sapporo. He then served as coadjutor at Konopporo (1986-1989); parish priest of Naganuma and Yubari (1989-1992); parish priest of Teine (1992-1998); a participant in a renewal course at Nemi, Italy, with the Divine Word Missionaries (1998-1999); parish priest in Sapporo and director of the Maria-Hanakawa kindergarten (1999-2003); and parish priest of Maruyama and director of the Sayuri-Maruyama kindergarten (2003-2004). From 2004 he served as parish priest of Kita Hiroshima and director of the Angels' kindergarten there; from 2006 as co-director of the Catholic School Board of Hokkaido; from 2008 as head of the Sapporo district; and from 2012 as substitute parish priest of Tsukisamu. On June 22, 2013, he was appointed Bishop of Sapporo. He received episcopal ordination on October 14, 2013, with Peter Takeo Okada as principal consecrator and Peter Toshio Jinushi and Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi as co-consecrators.