One hundred years after the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops consecrated in modern times , Fides News Agency is publishing a series of documentary profiles on these Successors of the Apostles and the dioceses entrusted to them, at the heart of that crucial event in the history of the Catholic Church in China.
§§§
by Prof. Liu Zhiqing
Anguo – The Diocese of Anguo was the second ecclesiastical circumscription in China to be entrusted to the leadership of a Chinese cleric. It was established on April 15, 1924. Its first bishop, Melchior Sun Dezhen , was one of the six Chinese bishops ordained by Pope Pius XI in St Peter’s Basilica on October 28, 1926. Prior to his episcopal consecration, he had been appointed Apostolic Prefect on April 15, 1924, and Pius XI appointed him bishop on June 24, 1926.
History of the Diocese
After establishing the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi in 1923, the first Apostolic Delegate to China, Archbishop Celso Costantini, immediately set about establishing a second diocese to be entrusted to the Chinese clergy. With the support of Father Joseph Fabrègues , a missionary of the Congregation of the Mission and Apostolic Vicar of Central Zhili , the Apostolic Prefecture of Lixian was established in 1924.
Costantini summarized the difference between the two new ecclesiastical circumscriptions in these terms: “The Diocese of Puchi was chosen in a situation of emergency and did not have particularly solid foundations. The Diocese of Lixian, however, was completely different: it had many faithful and a well-developed missionary apostolate.”
At the time, the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Zhili was administered by the Congregation of the Mission . In 1923, it comprised the prefectures and districts of the Baoding region and was divided into six deaneries: Baodingfu Kioutao, Baodingfu Sikwan, Baodingfu, Huchu, Donglu and Gaojiazhuang .
A total of 65 priests served in the Vicariate, including 20 foreigners and 45 Chinese. Chinese priests therefore accounted for 69.23% of the clergy, a percentage that placed the Vicariate second in all of China. There were 40 parishes with resident priests, and 86,674 registered baptized Catholics.
According to the 1923 statistics, the Gaojiazhuang Deanery of the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Zhili comprised 12 parishes: Gaojiazhuang, Xinqiao , Lioukiapailo, Wanan, Nansong, Lijiazhuang, Duanjiazhuang , Liucun , Nanma, Chengliushi , Liujiazhuang and Zhaojiazhuang . It had a total of 24,237 faithful.
On April 15, 1924, the Gaojiazhuang Deanery was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Zhili and established as the Apostolic Prefecture of Lixian. That same year, it had 26,179 baptized Catholics, 16 Chinese priests and 4 Chinese women religious.
The cathedral was initially established in Gaojiazhuang, in Lixian County. Because of difficulties in communication and transportation, in 1927 the seat of the new ecclesiastical circumscription was transferred to the western district of the city of Anguo.
On July 8, 1929, the Apostolic Prefecture of Lixian was elevated to the rank of Apostolic Vicariate and took the new name of Apostolic Vicariate of Anguo. On April 11, 1946, the ecclesiastical circumscription was further elevated to the rank of diocese.
According to statistics cited by Zhao Qingyuan in “Chronology of the Division of Catholic Dioceses in China and the Succession of Their Leaders,” in 1940 the diocese had 149 churches and chapels, 116 Chinese priests and 34,328 registered baptized Catholics.
In 1949, the territory of the diocese comprised six districts: Boyye, Lixian, Anguo, Shulu, Gaoyang and Shenze.
2. The Bishops of the Diocese
The first bishop of the Diocese of Lixian was Melchior Sun Dezhen , a missionary of the Congregation of the Mission . Melchior Sun Dezhen was born in Beijing on November 19, 1869. At the age of 13, he entered the seminary. He attended the minor and then the major seminary for a total of 14 years, distinguishing himself for his excellent academic results. He was ordained a priest on January 24, 1897 and served as a missionary in Tianjin , Yanshan and other areas.
On November 4, 1899, he entered the Congregation of the Mission, and on January 25, 1901 he made his religious vows. He taught for 12 years at the minor seminary in Beijing. In 1912, he was appointed parish priest of Niufang, in the Jingzhao district , and for the following 12 years he carried out his pastoral ministry in Tianjin, Cangxian , Yanshan, Jingdong and other areas.
On April 15, 1924, he was appointed Apostolic Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Lixian. On June 24, 1926, he was assigned the titular see of Esbon. On October 28, 1926, he was consecrated a bishop by Pope Pius XI in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, becoming one of the first six Chinese bishops consecrated in modern times.
On July 15, 1929, following the elevation of the Apostolic Prefecture to an Apostolic Vicariate, Melchior Sun Dezhen assumed the title of Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anguo.
In 1936, after submitting a request to the Pope to retire from active ministry and receiving authorization to do so, he retired to the House of the Blessed Little Brothers of St John in Qinghe, on the northern outskirts of Beijing. At the end of 1948, he moved to central Beijing. He died on August 13, 1951, at the age of 82, after a life devoted to proclaiming the Gospel.
Following Melchior Sun Dezhen’s retirement from the governance of the diocese in 1936, on July 1, 1937, Pope Pius XI appointed Wang Zengyi Apostolic Vicar of Anguo and titular bishop of Lamia.
On February 24, 1938, Bishop Wang Zengyi’s episcopal consecration took place in Beijing Cathedral. The rite was presided over by the emeritus Bishop of Anguo, Melchior Sun, while Paul Leon Cornelius Montaigne, Apostolic Vicar of Beijing, and Zhou Jishi , Apostolic Vicar of Baoding, served as co-consecrators. Bishop Wang Zengyi died on February 21, 1951.
3. Development of pastoral activities
The Diocese of Anguo originated from the Deanery of Gaojiazhuang, which belonged to the Apostolic Vicariate of Baoding. After 26 years of development, the number of baptized Catholics had risen to approximately 33,000.
The diocese had a total of 26 members of the clergy, both Chinese and foreign: one Chinese bishop, 23 Chinese priests and two foreign priests. In addition, there were 111 Chinese women religious and two foreign women religious.
The annual statistics concerning the development of pastoral activities are presented in the following table.
href=”https://www.fides.org/it/
Il tuo browser non supporta i file PDF. Puoi scaricare il file PDF
Link correlati :TABLE
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.