This is a list of Chinese Catholics in communion with Rome. It does not include members of the

Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) is the national organization for 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 Chinese Commun ...

, unless they are also recognized by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, but for cultural reasons does include Taiwanese persons.

Catholics of dynastic China

This concerns those who lived most or all of their life before the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

. *

Martyr Saints of China The Martyr Saints of China ( zh, t=中華殉道聖人, s=中华殉道圣人, first=t, p=Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén), or Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, are 120 saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Wester ...

- Although a few are from the Republican period. *

Lucy Yi Zhenmei Lucy Yi Zhenmei; Sichuanese romanization: ''I Chen-me''. (December 9, 1815 – February 19, 1862) was a Sichuanese Catholic saint from Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China. She is the lone woman of the five Guizhou Martyrs, a subset of the much ...

- Martyr saint

Clergy

Luo Wenzao Luo Wenzao (; also spelled Luo Wenzhao ( zh, c=炤, labels=no), Wenzao Lo, Luo Wencao, and variations of Gregorio Lopez in Western sources. (27 February 1691) was the first person of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity to be appointed as a Bis ...

- first Chinese bishop, Apostolic Vicar of Nanjing *

Zheng Manuo Zheng Manuo. Also known as Zheng Weixin and variations of Emmanuel or Manoel de Siqueira in Western sources. (25 May 163326 May 1673) was the first Chinese international student in Europe and the first Chinese Jesuit priest. At the age of twelv ...

- first Chinese Jesuit, first Chinese international student in Europe *

Michael Shen Fu-Tsung Michael Alphonsus Shen Fu-Tsung, SJ, also known as Michel Sin, Michel Chin-fo-tsoung, Shen Fo-tsung, or Shen Fuzong (, 1691),

- Jesuit who visited Europe * Louis Fan - priest, first Chinese to visit Europe and the Americas and return to China, writing on his travels * Wu Li - Landscape painter, poet, and Jesuit. * Ma Xiangbo - Jesuit, scholar, and educator. * He Tianzhang - Jesuit, resisted the ban on Chinese Rites.

Courtiers

*The

Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism The Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism (聖教三柱石, literally the "Holy Religion's Three Pillar-Stones") refer to three Chinese converts to Christianity, during the 16th and 17th century Jesuit China missions: * Xu Guangqi, Xú Guāngqǐ (W ...

Xu Guangqi Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i (April 24, 1562– November 8, 1633), also known by his baptismal name Paul or Paul Siu, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, scholar-bureaucrat, politician, and writer during the late Ming dynasty ...

, Lǐ Zhīzǎo, and Yáng Tíngyú - ministers of the Ming court * Li Yingshi - A Ming Chinese military officer and mathematician. *

Sun Yuanhua Sun Yuanhua (1581 or 1582– 7September 1632), also known as IgnatiusSun, was a Chinese mandarin under the late Ming. A Catholic convert, he was a protégé of Paul Xu (né Xu Guangqi). Like his mentor, he advocated repelling the Manchu inv ...

- Ming governor and mathematician *

Zheng Zhilong Zheng Zhilong, Marquis of Tong'an (; April 16, 1604 – November 24, 1661), baptismal name Nicholas Iquan Gaspard, was a Fujianese (Hokkien) admiral, merchant, translator, military general, politician, and pirate leader of the late Ming dyna ...

- Fujian warlord turned admiral *

Charles Yu Hsingling Charles Yu Hsingling ( zh, t=裕馨齡, w=Yü Hsin-ling, p=Yù Xīnlíng; 11 January 1879?), often referred to as Charles Hsingling, was a Hanjun Plain White bannerman who served as second secretary in the Qing-dynasty Embassy in France. He wa ...

- Qing Railway engineer and diplomat to France *

Xu Jingcheng Xu Jingcheng (; 1845 – 28 July 1900) was a Chinese diplomat and Qing politician supportive of the Hundred Days' Reform. He was envoy to Belgium, France, Italy, Russia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Germany for the Qing imperial court and ...

- Qing Minister of the

Zongli Yamen The ''Zongli Yamen'' (), short for Office for the General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries (), also known as Prime Minister's Office, Office of General Management, was the government body in charge of foreign policy in imp ...

* Empress Dowager Ma - Mother of Yongli Emperor *

Empress Dowager Wang (Southern Ming) Empress Dowager Wang (born Wang Huiling, ; c. 1594? – 1651), formally known as Empress Dowager Xiaozheng (), was an empress dowager of the Southern Ming dynasty of China. She was the main consort of Zhu Changying, Prince of Gui, the father of ...

- Principal consort of the father of the Yongli emperor * Empress Wang (Southern Ming) - Consort of the Yongli emperor *

Princess Der Ling Lizzie Yu Der Ling ( zh, t=裕德齡, w=Yü Tê-ling, p=Yù Délíng; 8 June 188122 November 1944), better known as "Princess" Der Ling, and also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White after her marriage to Thaddeus C. White, was the first lady-in- ...

- court lady, author of several memoirs, books, and magazine articles

Cultural figures

* Arcadio Huang - Jesuit-trained scholar, visited and worked in Europe *

Candida Xu Candida Xu or Candida Su ( zh, t=許徐甘弟大, w=Hsü3-Hsü2 Kan1-ti4-ta4, p=Xǔ-Xú Gāndìdà; ; September 4, 1607 – July 24, 1680), was a Chinese Catholic who lived in late Ming and early Qing China. She has been called "arguably the mos ...

- Granddaughter of Xu Guangqi, prominent patroness of Catholic missionaries *

Jiao Bingzhen Jiao Bingzhen (, active 1689–1726) was a native of Jining, Shandong who became a noted painter and astronomer. He is one of the first Qing dynasty painters to blend traditional Chinese painting with western culture. He is also among the more si ...

- Painter and astronomer. * Ying Lianzhi ‐ Manchu Bannerman, educator and newspaper editor

Catholics of modern China

Clergy

Cardinals

Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei (; 2 August 1901 – 12 March 2000) was a Chinese Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Shanghai from 1950 until his death in 2000. He spent 30 years in prison for defying attempts by China's Communist Party to ...

- A bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Shanghai The Diocese of Shanghai (; ) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the municipality of Shanghai, China. Pope Pius XI issued a decree ''Omnia Quæ Catholicæ'' as the Apostolic Vicariate of Shanghai on 25 April 1933. Pope Pius XII raised the vicariat ...

who became a Cardinal

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 without a public ...

* Thomas Tien Ken-sin - He was elevated to

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

of '' Santa Maria in Via'' by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of February 18, 1946. *

John Tong Hon John Tong Hon (, born 31 July 1939) is a prelate of the Catholic Church from Hong Kong. A cardinal since 2012, he was auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong from 1996 to 2008, then coadjutor bishop of the diocese for a year, and Bishop of Hong Kon ...

- Titular

Archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogo ...

of the church of ''Regina Apostolorum'' in Rome. * John Wu - Associated to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church. The diocese takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city, the metropolitan area where the bishop resides. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong ...

. *

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 ...

- Previously an archbishop of Nanking. *

Joseph Zen Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, SDB (, born 13 January 1932) is a Chinese Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 and has been outspoken on issues regarding human rig ...

- He had been the sixth bishop of the

Archbishops and bishops

* Han Dingxiang - An underground bishop of Yongnian detained for much of his ministry for his loyalty to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

as opposed to the Chinese government-controlled Roman Catholic Church. * Matthew Kia Yen-wen - An archbishop emeritus of Taipei, * Joseph Meng Ziwen - A bishop who spent time in a labor camp, was also recognized by the government as a priest of the

. * John Chen Shi-zhong - A bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Suifu. *

Dominic Tang Dominic Tang Yee-ming (; May 13, 1908 – June 27, 1995) was a Chinese Jesuit priest. Appointed Bishop in 1951 and later archbishop of Canton, he spent twenty-two years in jail for his loyalty to the Catholic Church and died in exile in the U ...

- Last archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guangzhou The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of (Canton) (, ) is an archdiocese located in the city of Guangzhou in China. History * 1848: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Guangdong-Guangxi from the Diocese of Macau * 1875: Renamed as Apostolic Vicari ...

to be recognized by the

. * Leon Yao Liang - A bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiwanzi. * Peter Zhang Bairen - An unofficial bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hanyang The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hanyang (, ) is a Latin suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Hankou in PR China, yet still depends on the Roman missionary Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its cathedral episcopal see ...

Priests

* Thomas CJ Cian ( 1823-1895 ) : pioneer Chinese priest of California, USA * Beda Chang - Jesuit killed by the Communists. * Nicholas Kao Se Tseien - Hong Kong priest known for his longevity. * Pierre-Celestin Lu Zhengxiang - Premier of China and convert who attended the

Paris Peace Conference of 1919 Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely popul ...

and later became a Benedictine priest. * Lawrence Zhang Wen-Chang - An

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

sent to the

Laogai ''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC). ''Láogǎi'' is different from ''láo ...

system by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Nuns

* Beatrice Leung - Sister of the Precious Blood of Hong Kong, and Professor at

Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages (WZU; ) is the only university devoted to language education in Taiwan. It awards A.A., B.A., B.B.A. degrees, and offers a master's degree program conferring M.A., M.B.A., and M.F.A. degrees. Stude ...

Entertainers

Musicians

* James Wong - Singer-songwriter, actor, columnist, and film director.

Politicians

He Yingqin He Yingqin (; April 2, 1890 – October 21, 1987) also Ho Ying-chin, was a Chinese politician and one of the most senior generals of the Kuomintang (KMT) during Nationalist China, and a close ally of Chiang Kai-shek. Early years A native of ...

- Premier of China *

Eugene Chen Eugene Chen or Chen Youren (; 2 July 1878, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago – 20 May 1944, Shanghai), known in his youth as Eugene Bernard Achan, was a Chinese Trinidadian lawyer who in the 1920s became Chinese foreign minister. He was known ...

- Foreign Minister of China *

Chan Kwok-keung Chan Kwok-keung, JP (born 17 January 1946, in Huizhou, Guangdong, China) was the member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1998–2004 for the Labour constituency. He was the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Wearing Apparel Industry Employ ...

- Former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. * Paul Chan - Previous head of the

New Macau Association The New Macau Association (AMN) is a major pro-democratic political party in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau. The party was established in 1992 and the founding chairman was António Ng Kuok Cheong, who departed from the the ...

. *

Audrey Eu Audrey Eu Yuet-mee is a Hong Kong lawyer and politician who represented Hong Kong Island in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 2000 to 2012. Eu was the founding leader of the Civic Party and was a member of the party's executive commit ...

- Former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. *

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After g ...

- Former

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Hong Kong *

Martin Lee Martin Lee Chu-ming (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party (Hong Kong), Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship Pr ...

- Founding chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong. *

Antonio Ng António Ng Kuok Cheong (; born September 26, 1957) is a politician who was a member in the Macau Legislative Assembly, returned by direct election. He was the founding chairman of the pro-democratic political party New Macau Association. He is a ...

- Member of the

Legislative Assembly of Macau The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region is the organ of the legislative branch of Macau. It is a 33-member body comprising 14 directly elected members, 12 indirectly elected members representing Functional constitu ...

. *

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...

- The second

and President of the Executive Council of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

from 2005 to 2012. *

John Tsang John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP (; born Mui; born 21 April 1951) is a Hong Kong former senior civil servant and government official who was the longest-serving Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR to date, from 2007 to 2017. Born in Hong Kong ...

- Former

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (“Department of Finance” per Article 60 of the Basic Law). The position is among the three most senio ...

Writers

* Su Xuelin - Novelist and scholar whose autobiographical ''Ji Xin'' (''Heart of the Thorn Bush'', 1929) discusses her conversion to Catholicism. * John C. H. Wu - Diplomat, jurist, and writer of works such as ''From Confucianism to Catholicism'' and ''Chinese Humanism and Christian spirituality''.

Others

* Ying Qianli - ethnic Manchu university professor, World War II resistance activist * Nadine Hwang - Chinese Air Force female pilot, honorary Colonel

References

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Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...