2024/09/14

Japanese people often have weddings in churches. However, most Japanese are not Christians. When having a wedding in a church, Japanese people casually refer to the person who makes the bride and groom exchange rings and kiss as a "priest," but strictly speaking, this is incorrect. Of course, if it is a Catholic wedding, then calling him a priest is correct, but Catholic weddings are generally not conducted unless one of the bride or groom is Catholic.

On the other hand, even if the bride and groom are not Catholic, they can still have a wedding in a church if it's a Protestant-style ceremony. In other words, most of the weddings we see are, strictly speaking, Protestant-style, and in Protestant weddings, it is a pastor, not a priest, who presides over the ceremony. Therefore, the person we casually call a "priest" is actually very likely a "pastor."

This ambiguous understanding of Christianity among Japanese people has probably contributed to the widespread image that any church wedding automatically involves a "priest."