Catholic Church in Taiwan During the Japanese Occupation

Abstract

The signing of the Shimonoseki Treaty between China and Japan in 1895 ended the war between these two countries and also marked the retrocession of Taiwan from mainland China. Japan took over the rule of Taiwan and inherited the governance of the small Catholic community there which had been created and managed by the Spanish Dominicans from the Philippines. This chapter deals with the Catholic Church in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period from 1896 to 1945. It discusses the process of de-sinicization of the Church, the establishment of its legal status, the buildup of the first girls’ secondary school, the introduction of the Gupo (Virgins) as well as the nuns. It also describes the founding of the Apostolic Prefecture in 1912 and the replacement of the Spanish Apostolic Prefect by the Japanese native priest Satowaki. Above all, it presents and analyzes the development of the Catholic Church in Taiwan during the period in question.