College of Cardinals

Biographical notes

[Updated: 09.11.2007]

Notice: the biographical notes are only a working instrument for the press, for the exclusive use of accredited journalists.

He was ordained a priest on 21 December 1957 and holds a degree in canon law.
He served as chaplain for the Catholic university students of the Archdiocese of Tokyo.

On 5 February 1970 he was nominated titular Bishop of Oreto and Auxiliary of Tokyo and received episcopal ordination on 29 April.

On 30 October 1979 he was named Bishop of the Diocese of Yokohama, where he was responsible for various commissions of the Bishops' Conference of Japan. He was also a member of the Council of the Synod of Bishops and head of the Office for Human Development of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

On 15 June 1998, as he was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, he was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop.

President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, 11 March 2006.

Created and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 October 2003, of the Deaconry of S. Giovanni Bosco in Via Tuscolana (St. John Bosco in Via Tuscolana).

Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao died on 8 November 2007.

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