The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guiyang (formerly spelled Kweyang; ; zh, t=天主教貴陽總教區, s=天主教贵阳总教区) is an

archdiocese 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 associated ...

located in the city of

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

, provincial capital of

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

(formerly, Kweichow; ), southwestern China.

History

On April 24, 1690, at the time of the creation of the bishoprics of Beijing and

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Pope Alexander VIII Pope Alexander 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 the most recent pope to take the ...

came under the authority of the latter. During a new division on October 15, 1696, Guizhou became an

apostolic vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

in its own right. However, in 1715, the then Apostolic Vicar of Kweichow,

Claude de Visdelou Claude de Visdelou (12 August 1656 – 11 November 1737) was a French Jesuit missionary. Life De Visdelou was born at the Château de Bienassis, Erquy, Brittany. He entered the Society of Jesus on 5 September 1673, and was one of the missionar ...

, saw clearly that he was absolutely unable to take charge of the province, and handed over the Mission of Guizhou to , Apostolic Vicar of Szechwan. The Vicariate of Kweichow had not been re-erected until March 27, 1846. Guizhou was evangelized by missionaries from

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

(Szechwan) during the 18th and 19th centuries. At that time, the

Catholic Church in Sichuan The presence of the Catholic Church in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan and city of Chongqing dates back to 1640, when two missionaries, Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães, through Jesuit missions in China, entered the provin ...

produced a number of itinerant catechists (i.e. local missionaries) thanks to a well-organized training system. Since 1774, evangelization was carried out by

Jean-Martin Moye Jean-Martin Moye (written later in his life as Moÿe) was a French Catholic priest who served as a missionary in China and was the founder of the Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence. He also organized the first expression of consec ...

, provicar of Eastern Szechwan (future Archdiocese of Chongqing), and a

Sichuanese Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese may refer to something of, from, or related to the Chinese province and region of Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jin ...

missionary, Benoît Sen. In 1798, Lawrence Hu Shï-lu, also a missionary from Sichuan, built a small church in

(Kweyang; ) for the Catholic community of about 100 people, which later became St. Joseph's Cathedral. On December 3, 1924, the Apostolic Vicariate of Kweichow was renamed Apostolic Vicariate of Kweyang, and on April 11, 1946, it was elevated to the rank of archdiocese.

Bishops

; Vicars Apostolic of Kweichow * , S.J. (1696 – October 15, 1706) *

, S.J. (January 12, 1708 – November 11, 1737) * Suppressed, remained dependent upon the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan (1715–1846) * , M.E.P. (August 13, 1846 – April 22, 1853) * , M.E.P. (1853 – June 21, 1871) * , M.E.P. (December 22, 1871 – April 24, 1893) * , M.E.P. (October 21, 1913 – December 3, 1924) ; Vicars Apostolic of Kweyang * François-Lazare Seguin, M.E.P. (December 3, 1924 – September 11, 1942) * , M.E.P. (later Archbishop) (September 13, 1942 – April 11, 1946) ; Archbishop of Kweyang *

Jean Larrart Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, M.E.P. (April 11, 1946 – July 14, 1966) ; Archbishops of Guiyang * ''Uncanonical, i.e. without papal mandate: (June 15, 1958 – July 24, 1977)'' *

Sede vacante In the Catholic Church, ''sede vacante'' is the state during which a diocese or archdiocese is without a prelate installed in office, with the prelate's office being the cathedral. The term is used frequently in reference to a papal interre ...

(1966–1987) * Underground bishop:

Augustine Hu Daguo Augustine Hu Daguo (15 May 1921 – 17 February 2011) was the underground Roman Catholic bishop (as such, he was then considered a part of the Vatican-recognized hierarchy in China approved by and in communion with the Pope) of the Apostolic P ...

(1987–1997) *

Anicetus Andrew Wang Chong-yi Anicetus Andrew Wang Chong-yi (26 October 1919 – 20 April 2017) was a Chinese Roman Catholic bishop. He came from a Catholic family and attended the boys' seminary of Guiyang, the capital of Ghizhou Province in southwestern China, and entered t ...

(December 4, 1988 – September 8, 2014) * Paul Xiao Zejiang (September 8, 2014 –)

Suffragan dioceses

* Nanlong

References

Bibliography

Sources and external links