The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaohsiung (Lat: ''Dioecesis Kaohsiungensis'') is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The diocese has the distinction of being the first Catholic ecclesiastical territory erected on the island of Taiwan. Created as the Apostolic Prefecture of the Island of Formosa in 1913, the name was changed to the Apostolic Prefecture of

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

in 1949. In 1961, the Prefecture was elevated to a full diocese, and became a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Taipei. The current bishop is

Peter Liu Cheng-chung Peter Liu Cheng-chung is a Roman Catholic prelate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Peter Liu has been chairman of Fu Jen Catholic University since 2009. Early life Liu was born on 12 April 1951 in Chiayi, Taiwan. Priest ...

, appointed in January 2006. In November 2009, he was given the "

ad personam ''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious. Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other ...

" (personal) title of archbishop by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

Ordinaries

Clemente Fernández Clemente Fernández López (23 November 1919 – 17 July 1996), known simply as Clemente, was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a right back. Club career Having begun his career as a midfielder, Clemente joined hometown club Real ...

, O.P. † (1913 Appointed – 1921 Died) *

Thomas de la Hoz Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, O.P. † (27 Jul 1921 Appointed – 1935 Died) *

Joseph Asajiro Satowaki Joseph Asajirô Satowaki (里脇浅次郎 ''Satowaki Asajirō'') (February 1, 1904—August 8, 1996) was a Japanese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Nagasaki from 1968 to 1990, and was elevated to the cardina ...

, † (1941 Appointed – 1946) *

Joseph Arregui y Yparaguirre Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, O.P. † (5 Mar 1948 Appointed – 1961 Died) *

Joseph Cheng Tien-Siang Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, O.P. † (21 Mar 1961 Appointed – 19 Aug 1990 Died) *

Paul Shan Kuo-hsi Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, S.J. (; 3 December 1924 – 22 August 2012) was a cardinal in the Catholic Church. He was at times the bishop of Hualien and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and the chairman of Fu Jen Catholic University. Biography Kuo-hsi was born i ...

, S.J. † (4 Mar 1991 Appointed – 5 Jan 2006 Retired) *

(5 Jan 2006 Succeeded – present)

Ordinaries

See also