Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing explained
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nanjing (Latin: 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 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
Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing
sede vacante
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
Vicar Apostolic of Kiangsu
- Próspero París, S.J. (1900–1931)
Vicar Apostolic of Nanjing
Archdiocese of Nanjing
See also
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.
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dnank.html#stats www.catholic-hierarchy.org | Statistics - Archdiocese of Nanjing
- Book: History of the Church: The church in the age of absolutism and enlightenment. 305 . Northwestern University. 1981. 9780824500108.
- Book: Brown, Steart J.. The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 7, Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660-1815. 459 . Cambridge University Press. December 7, 2006. 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.
- Web site: 羅文藻主教生平 (Bishop Luo Wenzao's Biography) . Chinese Regional Bishops Conference. https://web.archive.org/web/20071031171026/http://www.catholic.org.tw/dominicanfamily/china_bishoplo_life.htm. October 31, 2007. Chinese.
- Book: Santos Hernández, Angel . Jesuitas y obispados: Los jesuitas Obispos Misioneros y los Obispos Jesuitas de la extinción, Volume 2. 137–138 . Universidad Pontificia Comillas . December 15, 2000. 9788489708990 . Spanish.
