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.

Appendix 3.1

The vicar provincials of the Dominicans of the Holy Rosary in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation (Adapted from Richardson (1971), San Roman (2015) and Jiang (2008)

• 1894–1899 Isidoro Clemente

• 1900–1905 Francisco Giner

• 1906–1909 Manuel Prat Pujoldevall

• 1909–1910 Toribio Tobar

• 1910 Tomas Pascual Allende

• 1911 Celedonio Arranz

• 1914 Manuel Prat Pujoldevall

• 1915–1916 Tomas Pascual acting

• 1917–1919 Angel Rodriguez

• 1919 Buenaventura Gordaliza acting

• 1922–1926–1929 Tomas Pascual

• 1929/April to May, Francisco Giner

• 1934 Julián Villegas

• 1939 Angel Rodriguez

• 1945 Francisco Giner acting

Catholic missionary personnel in Taiwan (1895–1945)

Name	Time in Taiwan	Dates of birth and death
Ramon Colomer	1866–1875, 1882–1903	1842–1906
Celedonio Arranz	1879–1905	1853–1922
Isidoro Clemente	1883–1900	1853–1915
Francisco Giner	1886–1919, 1923–1946	1863–1946
Nemesio Fernandez	1890–1895, 1895	1866–1895
Jose M. Álvarez	1895–1904	1895–1937
Leon Gallo	1895–1896	1870–1898
Tomas Masoliver	1896–1900	1864–1922
Manuel Prat	1898–1916	1873–1947
Tomas Pascual	1898–1912, 1916–1929, 1938–1952	1872–1961
Angel Rodriguez	1898–1936, 1939–1945	1873–1945
Toribio Tobar	1898–1952	1873–1956
Pedro Prat	1898–1907	1872–1930
Buenaventura Gordaliza	1902–1950	1874–1950
Juan Beovide	1902–1928	1874–1928
Clemente Fernández	1903–1920	1879–1952
Justo Sasián	1903–1918	1879–1952
Felipe Villarrubia	1904–1933, 1936–1960	1878–1960
Faustino Rodriguez	1909–1912	1877–1966
Eutimio Pérez	1914–1923	1889–1938
José Gavilian	1916–1917	1891–1964
Felix Sanchez Muñoz	1917–1949	1892–1961
Gabriel Ormaechea	1918–1961	1880–1961
Julián Villegas	1921–1989	1897–1989
Thomas de la Hoz	1921–1949	1879–1949
Elías Fernández	1924–1939, 1952–1956	1899–1956
Vicente Prada	1923–1938, 1946–1952, 1970–1976	1903–1978
Pio Yoshitoku Futagami	1927–1929	1898–1981
Jose Arregui	1929–1979	1903–1979
Marcelino Delgado	1930–1947, 1949–1997	1905–1997
Jose Villaverde	1931–1946	1905–1960
Ursino Gonzalo	1934–1951, 1954–1974, 1976–1987	1903–1987
Constantino Montero	1934–1948, 1951–2007	1909–2007
Faustino Saez	1934–1987	1908–1987
Raymond Tu Mingzheng	1936–1982	1905–1982
Orencio Perez	1939–?	1913–?
Sergius Santa Maria	1939–?	1913–1974
Joseph Asajiro Satowaki	1941–1946	1904–1996
Furukawa Shigeyoshi	1942–1946	?–1970
John Baptist Li Tianyi (Li Thien-It)	1944–1958	1920–1958
Vincent Li Weitian (Li i-Thiam)	1945–1994	1921–1994

New churches or prayer rooms built during 1895–1945

Year	Location	Person responsible
1896	Jiadong
1897	Yuanlin
1898	Xinghuadian	Isidoro Clemente
1900	Pujianglun	Angel Rodriguez
1904	Shuzaijiao	Angel Rodriguez
1907	Daxin
1910	Kulingjiao	Justo Sasián
1915	Tianzhong	Justo Sasián
1915	Taichung	Manuel Prat
1915	Xiaobaisha	Manuel Prat
1916	Dounan	Buenaventura Gordaliza
1925	Zhushan	Felipe Villarrubia
1926	Xinhua
1928	Huashan	Thomas de la Hoz
1929	Tuku	Julián Villegas
1929	Mianqiancuo
1931	Zhanghua
1932	Jilong	Felix Sanchez Muñoz
1933	Huwei	Julián Villegas
1933	Xiaomei	Julián Villegas
1933	Shiding	Angel Rodriguez
1933	Xindian
1934	Dahu
1934	Jiayi	Julián Villegas
1934	Zuoying	Elías Fernández
1935	Xiushui	Francisco Giner