Roman Catholic Church in Japan welcomes its first conversion of an Anglican priest

Father Satoru Kato, 56, until recently an Anglican priest working in England, is set to enter full communion with the Catholic Church and be ordained a Catholic priest.

According to Father Hiroshi Oka of the Saitama diocese, who has been helping coordinate the convert’s entry into that diocese, once he is ordained Kato will work at a welfare institute and parishes as an assistant priest in Gunma Prefecture. Since Christmas, he has been doing interim work in Gunma.

Since Kato is married, Oka began to educate lay Catholics last December, explaining that priests are frequently married in Eastern Rite communities of the Catholic Church. “At first, there was a general feeling of displeasure among the laity,” Oka explained, “but I think that has mostly dissipated.”

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One comment on “Roman Catholic Church in Japan welcomes its first conversion of an Anglican priest

  1. deaconjohn25 says:

    It is not the fault of this site–I checked the original story–they got it wrong.
    What the article called “Eastern Rite Communities” are in reality full Churches in communion with Rome. And these Churches use various Eastern Rites in their liturgies. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church uses the Byzantine Rite in its Masses and services. The Maronite Church uses a Syriac liturgy, etc.