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✚Opening Hours and Mass Times
Opening Hours
| AM 9:00 – PM 18:00 |
Masses
Transportation : Niigata city bus, Hamauracho Sakimawari line (west circular) Nishi-Ohata stop, 2-minitue walk.
✚An Introduction to Christ the King Cathedral
✚Niigata Catholic Church
In 1885 (Meiji 18) the first Church building on this site was constructed in Higashi Ohata, Nii-gata City. Later, In 1927 (Showa 2), the present building was consecrated and named “Christ the King”. The design of the Church with its twin towers reaching to the sky was created by Mac Hinder, a well known Swiss architect. A rare, wooden building, it combines both the rom-anesque and renaissance styles.
In 1962 (Showa 37) the Church was designated as a Cathedral Shrine, becoming the main center of the Diocese of Niigata, which is comprised of the prefectures of Niigata, Yamagata and Akita.
In February of 1981 (Showa 56) Pope John Paul II came to Japan; in commemoration of his visit a small shrine was added to the front of the build-ing on the right hand side.
In 1996 (Heisei 8) the aging Church building, damaged as a result of the Niigata earthquake of 1964 (Showa 39), was renovated in order to become “A place of prayer to last for a hundred years” and for the first time in its sixty-nine year history stained glass windows were added. It was reborn as the beautiful Church we can now see. In March 1998 (Heisei 10) dignified lamps were donated by the Catholic Church in Kojimachi (Saint Ignatius Church) and were hung at eight places in the Shrine. They made a perfect match to the white walls and stained glass, and the Church became a special place for prayer.
In 2007（Heisei19）the wooden windows were changed to steel one, for 80th anniversaly of the building.
✚Pipe organ
In 1929(Showa 4) a pipe organ, made in Batelborn, Germany, was installed in the choir loft on the second floor. It is an old and valuable nation-al treasure and even now its sound resonates in clear and beautiful tones
✚Stained glass Windows
Stained glass, a religious art form of the Gothic period in Europe, expresses our feeling for God, bringing light into the Church through small, multi-colored pieces of glass. The light pouring the varicolored windows represents the glory of God.
At the time of the renovation in 1996 (Heisei 8) the stained glass for the inner Shrine windows was made at the Michele Merini craft center in Florence, Italy.
The windows portray the emblems of Jesus and Mary, the seven sacraments, Saints, Pope John Paul II, the insignia of the Bishop and Sado Island and Hokusanbara (Yamagata Prefecture), where Christians were martyred for their faith
✚The cave of Lourdes
In the south of France at the foot of the Pyrenees is situated the town of Lourdes. It was in a cave outside this small town where, in 1858, a young girl named Bernadette was graced by visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and received from Our Lady a special message. The Lady revealed her name to Bernadette as the Immaculate Conception and the apparitions of our Lady of Lourdes have since become known all over the world. The water flowing from this cave became a source of healing for many suffering people and a shrine was built near the cave and has since been visited by many pilgrims hoping for miraculous healings, for consolation and hope. In imitation the original cave, “Caves of Lourdes” were built in many churches throughout the world; in 1954 (Showa 29) a shrine of our Lady of Lourdes, commemorating the cave of Lourdes, was built in this Church as a place of prayer and as part of the celebrations of the Marian Year.
