Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Roman Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. There are approximately 509,000 Catholics in Japan - just under 0.5% of the total population. There are 16 dioceses, including 3 archdioceses with 1589 priests and 848 parishes in the country. The bishops of the dioceses form the Catholic Bishops'' Conference of Japan, the episcopal conference of the nation.