The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Metropolitan Archdiocese of

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

( la, Archidioecesis Nanchinensis) (

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

) is an ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associa ...

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 ...

in China.

History

It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Nanjing in 1659 by Pope Alexander VII, and promoted to a diocese by

Pope Alexander VIII Pope Alexander VIII ( it, Alessandro VIII; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is to date the las ...

on April 10, 1690. On 15 October 1696, its territory was reduced by

Pope Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII ( la, Innocentius XII; it, Innocenzo XII; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He ...

to two provinces:

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

(the present day provinces of

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

) and Ho-nan (

Henan province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). 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 A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

, with the suffragan sees of

Haimen Haimen (, Qihai dialect: , Shanghai: ) is a district of Nantong, Jiangsu province, with a population of approximately 1 million. It is located at the opposite side of the Yangtze River to Shanghai and is directly north of Chongming Island except ...

, Suzhou, and

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

. 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 A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. 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 in China 1696

Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing

Ignace Cotolendi Ignace Cotolendi, MEP (23 March 1630 – 16 August 1662) was a French bishop. He was a founding member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a missionary in Asia. Life Born in Brignoles, Var, Cotolendi was recruited by Alexander ...

(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, not consecrated until 1700 as Vicar Apostolic of Houkouang **Father

Francisco Spinola Francisco Spinola, S.J. (April 5, 1654 – June 28, 1694) was an Italian Roman Catholic Jesuit priest who was appointed as Bishop of Nanking. He died before he was able to reach his See and was never consecrated. Biography Francisco Spinola wa ...

, S.J. (Coadjutator, 1690–1694), appointed 1690 but did not take effect as he died in 1694 before reaching China, never consecrated *

Alessandro Ciceri Alessandro Ciceri (10 February 1932 – 5 September 1990) was an Italian sport shooter who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-spor ...

, S.J. (1694–1703) * Antonio de Silva, S.J. (1707–1726) * António Paes Godinho, S.J. (1718–1721) *

Emmanuel de Jesus-Maria-Joseph Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...

, O.F.M. (1721–1739) *

Francesco de Santa Rosa de Viterbo Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...

, 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 Paul Yu Pin (; 13 April 1901 – 16 August 1978) was a Chinese cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Nanking from 1946 until his death, having previously served as its Apostolic Vicar, and was elevated to the cardinalate ...

(1936–1978)

Archdiocese of Nanjing

*Paul Yü Pin (1936–1978) * Francis Xavier Lu Xinping (2000–present)

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Nanjing Nanjing History of Jiangsu 1659 establishments in China Religious organizations established in the 1650s

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century Religion in Jiangsu

History

List of Ordinaries of Nanjing

Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing

Bishop of Nanjing

Vicar Apostolic of Kiangnan

Vicar Apostolic of Kiangsu

Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing

Archdiocese of Nanjing

See also

Further reading

References

External links