Roman Pope Francisko appointed three new bishops as Japanese bishops on the 2nd. Priest Yamano Michiaki (62) = Priest of the Sales Delegation of the Salesian, Priest Jose Abeya (68) = former president of the Claretian Association, Priest Toshihiro Sakai (58) = Opus Dei member. Priest Yamano was appointed to the bishop of the diocese of Saitama, and Priest of both Abeya and Sakai were appointed assistant bishops of the Osaka Diocese. The Catholic Central Council announced the same day.

According to the council, the Saitama parish has absent a bishop since 2013 and will have a bishop for the first time in five years. The bishop Yamano chosen as the seventh parish chief, after becoming a parish, it becomes the fifth bishop.

According to the announcement of the Vatican, the bishop of Yamano was born in Oita Prefecture in 1955, He grew up in South America in Argentina, joined the Salesians Novitiate in 1975 and was ordained as priest in 1984. He has been working in Japan since 1994.

Meanwhile, the bishops Abeya and Sakai are appointed as Assistant Bishops since 2015 as the parish, as the Osaka parish archbishop Maeda Manyo was appointed as a cardinal.

Bishop Abeya was born in Spain in 1949. After studying philosophy and theology, he came to Japan to learn Japanese and was ordained as priest in 1979. After working in Japan, including working as a president of Claretian Association, he worked in Rome headquarters in 1991 and served as president from 2003 to 2015. After returning to Japan in 2015, he is pastoral in the Osaka Diocese.

Bishop Sakai was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1960. After graduating from Osaka Kyoiku University, he entered the Opus Dei Theological Seminary in Spain. Priest ordination in 1988. He returned to Japan in 1990, and since then he have been ministering in Japan.

The official schedule of each bishop will be announced later.