One hundred years after the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops of the modern era , Fides News Agency is dedicating a series of documentary profiles on these Successors of the Apostles and the dioceses entrusted to them. Their ordination marked a crucial moment in the history of the Catholic Church in China.
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by Prof. Liu Zhiqing
Puchi – The Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was the first ecclesiastical circumscription of the Catholic Church in China entrusted to the leadership of a Chinese cleric. It was established on December 12, 1923. Its first bishop, Odorico Cheng Hede , was one of the six Chinese bishops ordained by Pope Pius XI in the Vatican Basilica on October 28, 1926. Before his episcopal ordination, he had been appointed Apostolic Prefect on March 21, 1924, and Pope Pius XI appointed him bishop-elect on June 24, 1926.
1. History of the Diocese
In 1922, soon after arriving in China as the first Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Celso Costantini began working intensively to establish ecclesiastical circumpscriptions that could be entrusted to the Chinese clergy. He later wrote in his book With the Missionaries in China, 1922–1933: Memories of events and ideas:
“I suggested to Rome that the time had come to establish one or two indigenous dioceses. In this way, some Chinese bishops could participate as official representatives at the National Council .”
On his arrival in China, Costantini established his base in Hankou and, for geographical reasons, maintained frequent contact with the Apostolic Vicariate of Hankou. Furthermore, as they were both from Italy, he developed a particularly cordial relationship with Gratianus Gennaro , an Italian Franciscan and Apostolic Vicar of Hankou.
Costantini thus learned that “the Apostolic Vicariate intended to entrust ten districts situated south of the Yangtze River to the American Franciscans.” He therefore thought of “assigning four of these districts to the establishment of a diocese to be entrusted to a Chinese bishop, with Puchi at its centre, where the Church’s work had already laid some foundations.”
Costantini therefore focused his efforts on trying to persuade the Apostolic Vicar of Hankou to support this plan. He later recalled: “I tried to persuade Gennaro to approve the initiative of establishing an indigenous diocese. He was surprised and, after raising some difficulties, concluded: ‘Chinese priests have no legal standing in China and are not respected by the Chinese authorities. But if Rome wishes it, we can do nothing but obey.’”
On December 12, 1923, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was established after being separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei . The latter was administered by Italian Franciscans and in 1923 comprised five prefectures: Wuchang, Hanyang, Huangzhou , De’an and Anlu. The territory was organized into five deaneries: Wuchang, Hanyang, Anlu, De’an and Huangzhou.
There were 97 priests working in the vicariate: 74 foreigners and 23 Chinese. Chinese priests therefore accounted for 23.71 percent of the clergy, a relatively low percentage that placed the Vicariate 39th among the 57 Apostolic Vicariates and Apostolic Prefectures then existing in China.
Three new mission territories were created from the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei. The Apostolic Vicariate of Hankou had 54 parishes with resident priests and 43,914 baptized Catholics.
In December 1923, simultaneously with the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi, the Apostolic Prefecture of Wuchang was also established and entrusted to the American Franciscans, while the Apostolic Prefecture of Hanyang was entrusted to the Missionary Society of St. Columban .
The Apostolic Prefectures of Puchi and Wuchang were both formed from the Wuchang Deanery of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei, while the Deanery of Hanyang became the territory of the Apostolic Prefecture of Hanyang.
According to available statistics, in 1923 the Wuchang Deanery of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei comprised ten districts. The future Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi included the four districts of Puchi, Jiayu , Chongyang and Tongcheng . That year there was only one parish, in Chongyang, with one Chinese priest and 729 faithful.
The future Apostolic Prefecture of Wuchang included Wuchang, Xianning , Echeng , Daye , Tongshan and Xingguo , with six parishes and 2,793 faithful. The Deanery of Hanyang had 7,689 faithful.
Thus, on December 12, 1923, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was established. In the history of the Church in China, it is regarded as the first ecclesiastical circumscription entrusted to a member of the indigenous Chinese clergy. That year, it had 866 baptized Catholics, with seven Chinese priests and one Italian priest engaged in pastoral ministry.
The material resources of the new Apostolic Prefecture were practically non-existent, and missionary work was extremely difficult. To support the new territory, the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei allocated 100,000 silver taels for evangelization activities.
On May 10, 1951, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was elevated to a diocese, comprising the four districts of Jiayu, Puchi, Chongyang and Tongcheng.
According to statistics reported by Zhao Qingyuan in “Chronology of the division of Catholic Dioceses in China and the succession of their leaders,” the diocese had 19 churches and chapels, 10 Chinese priests and 5,046 baptized Catholics.
2. The Bishops of the Diocese
The first bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was Odorico Cheng Hede , a Franciscan of the Order of Friars Minor .
Odorico Cheng Hede was born on July 22, 1873, in Laohekou, Hubei Province. He initially attended the school in Chayuangou and, at the age of ten, was sent to Italy with another Franciscan seminarian to receive his formation.
On August 7, 1894, he entered the Order of Friars Minor at La Verna, Italy, and was ordained a priest on July 5, 1900. In January 1903, he returned to China to devote himself to missionary work. From 1907, he served as vice-rector of the minor seminary in Chayuangou, a position he held for a total of 14 years.
Odorico had a particular talent for sacred music and enjoyed reading historical works. He translated the Rule of the Franciscan Order into Chinese and wrote an Italian grammar for Chinese students. He also wrote The Joint Biography of the Blessed Martyrs Liu Fangji and Dong Wenxue—the Chinese names of the two martyrs, St Francis Fernández de Capillas and St Jean-Gabriel Perboyre—which was published by the Xujiahui Church printing press in Shanghai.
On March 21, 1924, he was appointed Apostolic Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi, becoming the first Chinese Apostolic Prefect. Although Cheng Hede held this office as a priest and was not yet a bishop, his appointment was nevertheless an important event for the Church in China, 250 years after the episcopal ordination of the Dominican Gregory Luo Wenzao, which took place in 1674.
In 1924, Cheng Hede took part, together with another Chinese Apostolic Prefect, in the Primum Concilium Sinense, the Council of the Catholic Church in China, convened in Shanghai.
On June 24, 1926, he was appointed titular bishop of Catenna. On October 28, 1926, in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he was ordained a bishop by Pope Pius XI, becoming one of the first six Chinese bishops ordained in the modern era.
He died on November 14, 1928, at the age of 55.
After his death, Joseph Zhang Jingxiu was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Puchi on April 16, 1929. He died on April 20, 1941.
On February 23, 1949, another Franciscan, Joseph Li Daonan, O.F.M. , was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Puchi. On May 10, 1951, when the Apostolic Prefecture was elevated to the rank of a diocese, Li Daonan became Bishop of the Diocese of Puchi. He died in 1971.
3. Development of the Diocese
At the time of its establishment, the Diocese of Puchi had very limited resources and a relatively small territory, comprising only four districts. Initially, there was only one parish in the area, in Chongyang, which belonged to the Deanery of Wuchang.
After 27 years of development, the number of baptized Catholics had risen to 5,351, while the diocese had 10 Chinese priests and 10 Chinese religious women. Overall, however, the development of the diocese’s pastoral activities remained relatively modest and did not reach particularly satisfactory levels.
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Link correlati :Statistical table of the pastoral activities of the Diocese of Puchi, 1923–1950
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