Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing/Nanking (Latin: Archidioecesis Nanchinensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in China.

Archdiocese of Nanjing Archidioecesis Nanchinensis 天主教南京总教区
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Nanjing
Location
Country	China
Ecclesiastical province	Nanjing
Coordinates	32.044751°N 118.778343°E / 32.044751; 118.778343
Statistics
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 1949) 6,000,000 [1] 32,536 [1] (0.5%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Nanjing
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Francis Savio Lu Xinping

History

Mgr Ignace Cotolendi (1630-1662) was the first appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing.

It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Nanjing in 1659 by Pope Alexander VII, and promoted to a diocese by Pope Alexander VIII on April 10, 1690. On 15 October 1696, its territory was reduced by Pope Innocent XII to two provinces: Jiangnan (the present day provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai) and Ho-nan (Henan province).^[2][3] The diocese was demoted to the Apostolic Vicariate of Kiangnan on January 21, 1856 by Pope Pius IX, and its name was later changed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Kiangsu on August 8, 1921 and to the Vicariate Apostolic of Nanjing on May 1, 1922. Pope Pius XII elevated it on April 11, 1946 to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese, with the suffragan sees of Haimen, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Xuzhou.

The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception also known as the Shigu Road church. There were a number of years without a bishop after the death of Paul Cardinal Yü Pin on August 16, 1978, because of the irregular relations between the Communist government and the Holy See. On January 6, 2000, Francis Savio Lu Xinping was ordained the new bishop of Nanjing along with four others in an illicit ceremony in Beijing's South Cathedral. Since then he has been reconciled to the Holy See.

List of Ordinaries of Nanjing

Dioceses and Apostolic Vicariates of China in 1696

Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing

• Ignace Cotolendi (1660–1662)

sede vacante

• Gregory Luo Wen-zao, O.P. (1674–1690)

Bishop of Nanjing

• Gregory Luo Wen-zao, O.P. (1690–1691), also known as Gregory Lopez in the Philippines
  • Father Giovanni Francesco Nicolai, O.F.M. (Administrator, 1691–1694), nominated by Wen-zao as his successor on May 29, 1688 under authority granted by the Holy See, served as administrator upon Wen-zao's death,^[4] not consecrated until 1700 as Vicar Apostolic of Houkouang
  • Father Francisco Spinola, S.J. (Coadjutator, 1690–1694), appointed 1690 but did not take effect as he died in 1694 before reaching China, never consecrated^[5]
• Alessandro Ciceri, S.J. (1694–1703)
• Antonio de Silva, S.J. (1707–1726)
• António Paes Godinho, S.J. (1718–1721)
• Emmanuel de Jesus-Maria-Joseph, O.F.M. (1721–1739)
• Francesco de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, O.F.M. Ref. (1742–1750)
• Gottfried Xaver von Laimbeckhoven, S.J. (1752–1787)
• Alexandre de Gouvea (Gouveia), T.O.R. (1787–1804)
• Cayetano Pires Pireira, C.M. (1804–1838)

Vicar Apostolic of Kiangnan

• André-Pierre Borgniet, S.J. (1859–1862)
• Adrien-Hippolyte Languillat, SJ (1864–1878)
• Valentin Garnier, S.J. (1879–1898)
• Jean-Baptiste Simon, S.J. (1899)
• Próspero París, S.J. (1900–1931)

Vicar Apostolic of Kiangsu

• Próspero París, S.J. (1900–1931)

Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing

• Próspero París, S.J. (1900–1931)
• Auguste Haouisée, S.J. (1931–1933)
• Paul Yü Pin (1936–1946)

Archdiocese of Nanjing

• Paul Yü Pin (1946–1978)
• John Li Wei-guang (15 Nov 1959 - 1966)
• Joseph Qian Hui-min (24 Jul 1981 - 20 May 1993)
• Joseph Liu Yuanren (7 Dec 1993 - 20 Apr 2005)
• Francis Xavier Lu Xinping (2000–present)

See also

• Catholicism portal

• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Nanjing
• Christianity in China
• Roman Catholicism in China
• Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
• List of Catholic cathedrals in China
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses in China
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured_view)-Episcopal Conference of China

Further reading

• David Strong, A Call to Mission -- A History of the Jesuits in China 1842-1954. Volume 1: The French Romance, ATF Press, 2018.

References

1. www.catholic-hierarchy.org | Statistics - Archdiocese of Nanjing
2. History of the Church: The church in the age of absolutism and enlightenment. Northwestern University. 1981. p. 305. ISBN 9780824500108.
3. Brown, Steart J. (December 7, 2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 7, Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660-1815. Cambridge University Press. p. 459. ISBN 9780521816052. China was divided into three padroado dioceses with limited territory: the diocese of Beijing included the provinces of Zhili and Shandong as well as the territory of Liaodung in Manchuria; the diocese of Nanjing consisted of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Henan; and the diocese of Macao included Guangdong, Guangxi, and the island of Hainan
4. "羅文藻主教生平 (Bishop Luo Wenzao's Biography)". Chinese Regional Bishops Conference (in Chinese). Archived from the original on October 31, 2007.
5. Santos Hernández, Angel (December 15, 2000). Jesuitas y obispados: Los jesuitas Obispos Misioneros y los Obispos Jesuitas de la extinción, Volume 2 (in Spanish). Universidad Pontificia Comillas. pp. 137–138. ISBN 9788489708990.

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy
• GCatholic.org