Pope Leo XIV has formally suppressed two dioceses in China and erected a new one, which already had been operating without the Vatican’s consent. Source: OSV News.
“With a desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual wellbeing,” Pope Leo decided to suppress the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi and to erect the new diocese of Zhangjiakou, the Vatican press office said yesterday.
The two former dioceses had been established by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
The Vatican press office said Pope Leo had made the decision on July 8, the same day he had nominated as bishop of the new diocese Fr Joseph Wang Zhengui, “having approved his candidacy within the framework of the provisional agreement” between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
The provisional agreement, which has never been published, was first signed in 2018 and outlines procedures for ensuring that the Pope approves Catholic bishops elected by the Catholic community in China before their ordinations or installations. The agreement was renewed in October 2024 for a four-year period.
The new bishop, 62, received his episcopal ordination yesterday, the Vatican said. He had attended the provincial seminary in Hebei and was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 1990, for the Diocese of Xianxian. He later also ministered in the Diocese of Xuanhua.
AsiaNews, a news agency promoted by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, had reported in May 2021 that the Chinese government already recognised Zhangjiakou as a diocese and that while not functioning as a bishop, Fr Wang Zhengui already was coordinating pastoral activity there.
Most of the territory of the two suppressed dioceses was incorporated into the new Diocese of Zhangjiakou, the Vatican said. Just over 4 million people live within the diocesan boundaries, and about 85,000 of them are Catholics, who are served by 89 priests.
Zhangjiakou is about 200 kilometres northeast of Beijing.
FULL STORY
Pope erects new diocese in China, names new bishop (By Cindy Wooden, OSV News)
