Roman Catholic Diocese of Tianjin

Coordinates: 39°08′00″N 117°10′59″E / 39.1333°N 117.1830°E / 39.1333; 117.1830
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Diocese of Tianjin

Dioecesis Tienzinensis

天主教天津教区
The façade of St Joseph's Catholic Church
Location
CountryChina
Ecclesiastical provinceBeijing
MetropolitanBeijing
Statistics
Area12,560 km2 (4,850 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2008)
15,000,000
100,000(60,000 est. underground faithful, as of 2008) (0.7%)
Information
RiteLatin Rite
CathedralSt. Joseph’s Cathedral
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopMelchior Shi Hongzhen (house arrest)
Metropolitan ArchbishopJoseph Li Shan

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tianjin/Tíentsín (Latin:Latin: Tienzinen(sis), Chinese: 天津; pinyin: Tiānjīn) is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Beijing in PR China.

Its cathedral episcopal see is Cathedral of St. Joseph (Laoxikai Church), in the city of Tianjin, which also houses the former cathedral Our Lady of Victory Church (Wanghailou Church) (圣母得勝堂(望海樓天主堂)).

Data from 1950 indicated there were 50,000 registered Roman Catholics in Tianjin, about 1.4% of the total 3,600,000 population. Data from 2008 estimated 100,000 Catholics in Tianjin after years of persecution, of which 40,000 are officially registered and an estimated 60,000 are underground. This represents about 0.7% of the population of Tianjin.

History[edit]

  • June 19, 1870: the Tianjin Massacre, an anti-Catholic riot, occurred in the city of Tianjin
  • April 27, 1912: The Apostolic Vicariate of Coastal Chi-Li (直隸海濱) was established on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Chi-Li (直隸北境)
  • December 3, 1924: Renamed after its see as Apostolic Vicariate of Tianjin (天津)
  • April 11, 1946: Promoted as Diocese of Tianjin (天津)

Ordinaries[edit]

(all Roman Rite)

Apostolic Vicars of Coastal Chi-Li (直隸海濱)
  • Paul-Marie Dumond, Lazarists (C.M.) (April 27, 1912 – July 21, 1920), Titular Bishop of Curubis (1912.05.02 – 1944.02.19), later Apostolic Administrator of Ganzhou 贛州 (China) (1920.07.21 – 1925.05.12) becoming Apostolic Vicar of Ganzhou (1925.05.12 – 1931.07.03), Apostolic Vicar of Nanchang 南昌 (China) (1931.07.03 – death 1944.02.19)
Apostolic Vicar of Tianjin (天津)
  • Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille, C.M. (文貴斌) (July 12, 1923 – April 11, 1946), Titular Bishop of Abrittum (1915.08.10 – 1946.04.11 see below); previously Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Southwestern Chi-Li 直隸西南 (China) (1915.08.10 – 1917.04.02), succeeding as Vicar Apostolic of Southwestern Chi-Li (1917.04.02 – 1919.04.02), Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Northern Chi-Li 直隸北境 (China) (1919.04.02 – 1923.07.12)
Suffragan Bishops of Tianjin (天津)

Sources and external links[edit]

39°08′00″N 117°10′59″E / 39.1333°N 117.1830°E / 39.1333; 117.1830