The Apostolic Prefecture of Qiqihar (or Tsitsikar) () is a
Latin Church
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
missionary jurisdiction in
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
province, China. Its
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
episcopal see is the Cathedral of St. Michael in the city of
Qiqihar
Qiqihar (also spelled Tsitsihar) is the second-largest city in the Heilongjiang province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, w ...
. It is exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
.
History
* It was established on 9 July 1928 as
Mission sui juris
In the Canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an Ecclesial community, ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with expli ...
of Qiqihar (Tsitsikar), on territories split off from the
Apostolic Vicariate of Jilin () and the
Apostolic Vicariate of Rehe ()
* On 17 August 1931, it was promoted as
Apostolic Prefecture
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
of Qiqihar / Tsitsikar.
Ordinaries and precursor
(all
Latin Church
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
)
;'' Ecclesiastical Superior of the Independent Mission of Qiqihar (Tsitsikar)''
* Eugène-Jean Imhof (1929.04.28 – 1931.08.17 ''see below'')
;''Apostolic Prefects of Qiqihar''
* Eugène-Jean Imhof () (''see above'' 1931.08.17 – death 1934.01.17)
* Paul Hugentobler (),
Society of Bethlehem Mission Immensee (S.M.B.) (1934.11.09 – death 1972.06.27)
*
Paul Guo Wenzhi () (1989 – 2000.08)
*
Joseph Wei Jingyi () (2000.08 – ...), succeeding as previous
Coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence.
These include:
* Coadjutor bishop ...
of Qiqihar (1995 – 2000.08)
See also
*
Roman Catholicism in China
The Catholic Church ( zh, p=Tiānzhǔ jiào, c=天主教, l=Religion of the Lord of Heaven, after the Chinese term for the Christian God) first appeared in China upon the arrival of John of Montecorvino in China proper during the Yuan dynasty ...
Source and External links
GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qiqihar, Apostolic Prefecture
Apostolic prefectures
Roman Catholic dioceses in China
Christianity in Heilongjiang
1928 establishments in China