The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shunqing (formerly spelled Shunking; ; zh, t=天主教順慶教區), also known as Diocese of Nanchong, is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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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 ...

in the ecclesiastical province of Chongqing in

southwestern China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

, yet depends on the missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congrega ...

. Established on August 2, 1929 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Shunking for the Mission of Sichuan (Szechwan), its episcopal see is the

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a church in Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia, the most densely populated area of the city, surrounded by housing estates such as Melodies Garden, Taman Sri Tebrau, Taman Pelangi, Centur ...

, located in the Shunqing city center district of

Nanchong Nanchong ( zh, c=南充 , p=Nánchōng , w=Nan-ch'ung; Sichuanese: lan2cong1) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of . At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 liv ...

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 ...

province. No statistics available.

Territory

The Diocese of Shunqing covers 34 cities and counties, including

Bazhong Bazhong () is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province, China. Its population was 2,712,894 at the 2020 census whom 1,064,766 lived in Bazhou and Enyang urban districts. As of the end of 2022, the resident population of Bazhong Ci ...

(),

Guang'an Guang'an is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province. It is most famous as the birthplace of China's former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Guang'an lies between the hills of central Sichuan and the gorges area of the east. Guang'an ...

(),

Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...

(),

Ziyang Ziyang ( zh, s=资阳 , t=資陽 , p=Zīyáng , w=Tzu-yang) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province, China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Chengdu to the northwest, Deyang to the north, Suining to the northeast, Chong ...

(), and

Dazhou Dazhou ( zh, s= 达州 , t= 達州 , p=Dázhōu , w=Ta-chou) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast corner of Sichuan province, China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Chongqing to the east and south. As of 2020 census, Dazhou was home t ...

(, formerly part of Eastern Szechwan Mission), totaling 25,000 square kilometers. It is bordered by the Diocese of Chengdu to the west, Diocese of Wanxian and Archdiocese of Chongqing to the east, Diocese of Hanzhong and Apostolic Prefecture of Xing'anfu to the north, and Diocese of Suifu to the south. File:Mission du Su-tchuen occidental.jpg, Shunqing Diocese was part of the Western Szechwan Mission; map prepared by , 1889.

History

* Established on August 2, 1929 as Apostolic Vicariate of Shunkingfu (; ; -fu meaning administrative prefecture), on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Chengtu () * Promoted on April 11, 1946 and renamed after its see as Diocese of Shunking ().

St. Andrew's Priory

Upon the creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Shunking,

Benedictine monks The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, the ...

from St. Andrew's Abbey, Bruges established the Priory of Saints Andrew and Peter at a site in the suburbs of

, known as Xishan (formerly romanized as ''Si-shan'', ), where a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

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was kept. During the Second World War, the Benedictines served as auxiliary chaplains to the American soldiers stationed in this region. In 1942, it was felt that

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

, the capital city, would be a better place for a permanent priory. Therefore, in 1945, the Benedictines opened in that city the Institute of Chinese and Western Cultural Studies. The priory was transferred to Chengdu and formally inaugurated on July 11, 1949. Nevertheless, it only stayed there for a brief time, until December 25, 1949, when the communist invasion reached the city. Eventually, the priory was re-established in

Valyermo, California Valyermo ( Spanish: "Barren Valley") is an unincorporated community located in the Mojave Desert, in Los Angeles County, California. The community has a population of about 450. Geography Valyermo is located about southeast of Palmdale in ...

, known today as St. Andrew's Abbey.

Episcopal ordinaries

All

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

and native bishops. ; Apostolic Vicar of Shunkingfu Paul Wang Wen-cheng

* (December 2, 1929 – April 11, 1946 ''see below'') ; Suffragan Bishop of Shunking * Paul Wang Wencheng (''see above'' April 11, 1946 – January 28, 1961) ; Suffragan Bishops of Shunqing *''uncanonical: (1963 – death 1987.12.17), without papal mandate'' *''uncanonical: (1989 – retired 2001), without papal mandate; died 2004'' * (2012 – ...)

References

Sources and external links