Pope Francis has merged the Archdiocese of Osaka and the Diocese of Takamatsu to create the new Archdiocese of Osaka-Takamatsu.
The current archbishop of Osaka (Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda) is the new archdiocese’s first archbishop; the bishop of Takamatsu retired last September.
The Archdiocese of Osaka was founded in 1904 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1969. The Diocese of Takamatsu was founded in 1963.
The number of diocesan and religious priests serving in Osaka fell from 229 to 142 between 1970 and 2021. The number of diocesan and religious priests serving in Takamatsu fell from 43 to 16 between 1980 and 2020.
Since 2020, the Pope has merged dioceses in Canada, Alaska, and Italy.