Ottawa – Father Francesco Yukinori Kumagawa, PSS, has been named Rector of the Canadian Pontifical College in Rome. As of 1 May 2026, he succeeds fellow Sulpician Father Jaroslaw Kaufmann, P.S.S., who has been Rector since 2024.

In English: https://www.cccb.ca/media-release/new-rector-of-the-canadian-pontifical-college-in-rome/
In French: https://www.cecc.ca/communique-de-presse/nouveau-recteur-du-college-pontifical-canadien-a-rome/

Father Kumagawa was born on 2 November 1970 in Nagasaki, Japan. He entered the minor seminary in Nagasaki in 1983, then continued his formation at the Fukuoka Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Japan beginning in 1989. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Nagasaki on 3 March 1999. Following his ordination, he served as a formator at Nagasaki College, the preparatory seminary for the major seminary in Fukuoka (1999–2002). He later pursued graduate studies in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a Licentiate in Spirituality (2003–2006). During this period, he also studied French and participated in the Sulpician program “La Solitude” in Montréal (2006–2007). In 2009, he was admitted to the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice.

He subsequently returned to Japan and served as a formator at the Fukuoka Saint-Sulpice Seminary, which became the Japan Catholic Seminary in 2009, from 2007 to 2013. He then resumed advanced theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, obtaining both a Licentiate and Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology (2013–2020). From 2020 to 2024, he served as a formator at the Fukuoka Catholic Seminary.

The Canadian Pontifical College is a residence for Canadian priests furthering their studies at the universities and institutes in Rome. The nomination of the Rector is made by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice in consultation with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.