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© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Pope leaves Japan after visit to Sophia University
By NICOLE WINFIELD and MARI YAMAGUCHI TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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papigiulio
I honestly didn't know the pope had SUCH a huge following in Japan. An arena full of people and sold out merch. He is like a rockstar. Mindboggling.
Marian Halcombe
"If Francis had come to Japan as a missionary, he likely would have eventually ended up at Sophia, a prestigious private university that caters to the wealthy, like many of the Catholic schools in Japan."
Daughter no. 1 attends Sophia. We are definitely NOT wealthy..........
rainyday
He doesn't. The "arena" is just a large university lecture/conference hall that probably seats about 1,000. The attendees are all faculty or students at Sophia, which is a Catholic University. I don't think they were selling any merchandise.
Christian population (not just Catholic, but all denominations) is about 1% of the population in Japan.