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 ...

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 associ ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

( la, Dioecesis Sciamhaevensis; ) 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 associ ...

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 the Municipality of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It was erected on December 13, 1933 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Shanghai by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

, and was later elevated to the rank of a diocese on April 11, 1946 by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. The diocese is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the

Archdiocese of Nanking The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nanjing ( la, Archidioecesis Nanchinensis) (Jiangsu) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in China. History It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Nanji ...

Churches

The diocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its bishop is

St. Ignatius Cathedral St. Ignatius Cathedral (), also known as the Xujiahui Cathedral () or the Xujiahui Catholic Church (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral, located in Xujiahui, Shanghai, China. Since 1960, St Ignatius has been the seat of the Bishop of Shanghai an ...

; it also houses a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in Sheshan.

Bishops

In 1950, Pope Pius XII appointed the Bishop of Suzhou,

Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei (; 2 August 1901 – 12 March 2000) was the Catholic Bishop of Shanghai, China, from 1950 until his death in 2000. He spent 30 years in Chinese prisons for defying attempts by China's Communist government to control ...

, bishop of Shanghai. In 1955, he was arrested and given a life sentence in 1960. In the same year, the

Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association The Catholic Patriotic Association (), abbreviated CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the C ...

(CPCA) appointed

Aloysius Zhang Jiashu Aloysius ( ) is a given name. Etymology It is a Latinisation of the names Alois, Louis, Lewis, Luis, Luigi, Ludwig, and other cognates (traditionally in Medieval Latin as ''Ludovicus'' or ''Chlodovechus''), ultimately from Frankish ''*Hlūd ...

, S.J. as Bishop of Shanghai to replace Kung, thereby being the first illicitly consecrated bishop of this diocese. In 1985, his Jesuit confrere,

Aloysius Jin Luxian Aloysius Jin Luxian (; June 20, 1916 – April 27, 2013) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shanghai. Biography Bishop Aloysius Jin was born in Shanghai into a family that had been Catholic for generations. He w ...

, S.J., was illicitly ordained as the Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai, and became the Bishop of Shanghai upon the death of Zhang in 1988. In the meantime, Bishop Kung was released from prison and placed under house arrest in 1985 and then sent to the United States in 1988, where he would die in 2000. Bishop Kung was made a ''

cardinal in pectore ''In pectore'' (Latin for "in the breast/heart") is a term used in the Catholic Church for an action, decision, or document which is meant to be kept secret. It is most often used when there is a papal appointment to the College of Cardinals wi ...

'' in 1979 and officially informed of his cardinalate in 1991. Upon the death of Cardinal Kung, 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 ...

recognized 82-year-old

Joseph Fan Zhongliang Joseph Fan Zhongliang S.J. (; 18 December 1918 – 16 March 2014), also known as Josephus Vei Zong Leong, was a Chinese Roman Catholic bishop in the Diocese of Shanghai in China. Life Fan was baptised aged 14. He joined the Jesuits in 1938 and ...

, S.J. of the

underground Church The term underground church () is used to refer to Chinese Catholic churches in the People's Republic of China which have chosen not to associate with the state-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association, they are also called ''loyal church'' (). ...

as the legitimate successor in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Bishop Jin reconciled with the Holy See and was thus recognized as the

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co- ...

of Shanghai. In the 2000s, Bishop Jin increasingly worked with Bishop Fan in administering the diocese, despite the fact that the CPCA did not recognize the latter's authority. In 2005, Bishop Jin revealed that Fan had been suffering from Alzheimers and both the Holy See and the CPCA agreed to the consecration of Giuseppe Xing Wenzhi as the Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai in hopes that this mutually agreed upon bishop would succeed both Fan and Jin to heal the rift between the Holy See and the CPCA. However, in 2010 Auxiliary Bishop Xing asked for personal reasons not to be the successor in this diocese. In 2012, both the Holy See and the CPCA agreed upon the consecration of 44-year-old

Thaddeus Ma Daqin Thaddeus Ma Daqin (; born 1968, Shanghai, China) is a Chinese Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Shanghai from 2014 until 2023. He was appointed as auxiliary bishop with the approval of the Holy See and Chinese Government in July 2012 ...

. There was a disagreement of his status, with the Holy See appointing him as the auxiliary bishop (given that Jin was technically still the coadjutor) while the CPCA appointed him as the coadjutor bishop. Despite this technical disagreement, it appeared that both had the intention of Ma becoming the next Bishop of Shanghai. In a surprising move, Ma announced during his ordination Mass that he would be resigning from his posts within the CPCA effective immediately. The next day, government officials placed him under house arrest at the Sheshan Seminary and the CPCA stripped him of his title as coadjutor bishop in December 2012. Upon the death of Jin Luxian in April 2013, the CPCA officially recognized a ''

sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. Hi ...

'' in Shanghai while the Holy See maintains that Auxiliary Bishop Ma should be administering the diocese. Soon afterwards, government officials transferred Ma to Beijing.

List of ordinaries of Shanghai

See source: *Bishop Auguste Haouissée, SJ (1933–1948) *Cardinal

(1950–2000) *''Bishop Aloysius Zhang Jiashu, SJ'' (1960–1988) (non-canonical) *''Bishop

, SJ'' (1988–2013) (non-canonical until 2005, recognised as co-adjutor bishop in 2005 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 sovereig ...

) *Bishop

, SJ (2000–2014) *Bishop

(2014–present)

References

External links

Catholic-HierarchyUCAN Diocese Profile"Keeping Faith," July/August 2007, The Atlantic
, The Cardinal Kung Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Shanghai Christian organizations established in 1933 Christianity in Shanghai Geography of Shanghai Organizations based in Shanghai

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1933 establishments in China

Churches

Bishops

List of ordinaries of Shanghai

See also

References

External links