The Diocese of Fengxiang (, ) 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 ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

if the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located in

Fengxiang Fengxiang District (), formerly, Fengxiang County and its ancient name is Yong county (雍县), is a district administered by Baoji City in the west of Shaanxi province, China. The county covers an area of and as of 2004 had a population of 510, ...

(

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

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 ...

. It is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

in the

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 ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese of Xi’an. It is believed that this diocese, headed by Bishop Luke Li Jingfeng until his death late in 2017, is the only one in China where neither the laity nor the bishop belong to the government-sponsored

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 ...

. Since 2017, the bishop has been Peter Li Huiyuan.

History

* November 15, 1932: Established 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 Fengxiangfu 鳳翔府 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Xi’anfu 西安府 * June 9, 1942: Promoted as

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 ...

of Fengxiangfu 鳳翔府 * April 11, 1946: Promoted as Diocese of Fengxiang 鳳翔

Leadership

*Prefects Apostolic of Fengxiangfu 鳳翔府 ** Fr. Philip Silvester Wang Tao-nan, O.F.M. (王道南) (later Bishop) (October 26, 1933 – June 9, 1942) *Vicars Apostolic of Fengxiangfu 鳳翔府 ** Bishop Philip Silvester Wang Tao-nan, O.F.M. (王道南) (June 9, 1942 – April 11, 1946) *Bishops of Fengxiang 鳳翔 ** Bishop Philip Silvester Wang Tao-nan, O.F.M. (王道南) (April 11, 1946 – October 4, 1949) ** Bishop Anthony Zhou Wei-dao, O.F.M. (周維道) (May 31, 1950 – 1979) ** Bishop Lucas Li Jing-feng (1983 – November 17, 2017) ** Bishop Peter Li Huiyuan (November 17, 2017 – present)

References

External links

GCatholic.org

Roman Catholic dioceses in China Christian organizations established in 1932 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Christianity in Shaanxi Organizations based in Shaanxi {{PRChina-RC-diocese-stub