Rome Marks 100 Years Since China's First Bishops
A Nov. 5 conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana will bring together the bishops of Beijing and Haimen with Cardinals Parolin, Chow, and Tagle.
One hundred years ago today, on October 28, 1926, Pope Pius XI consecrated six Chinese priests as bishops in St. Peter's Basilica. The ceremony marked a turning point for the Church in China: native shepherds received the fullness of the priesthood in Rome, and pastoral responsibility began to pass in earnest to a local hierarchy.
The six new bishops were Philippe Zhao Huaiyi, then 46 and a priest for 22 years; Odorico Cheng Hede, 53 and a priest for 26 years; Melchior Sun Dezheng, 57 and a priest for 29 years; Louis Chen Guodi, 51 and a priest for 23 years; Joseph Hu Ruoshan, 45 and a priest for 17 years; and Simon Zhu Kaimin, 58 and a priest for 28 years. They were assigned to the Apostolic Vicariates of Xuanhua, Fenyang, Taichow and Haimen and to the Apostolic Prefectures of Puqi and Lixian.
Archbishop Celso Costantini, apostolic delegate to China, stated that the consecrations ended "a long transitional period" and began "an entirely different era," fulfilling the vision of Pope Benedict XV's Maximum illud.
From Six Sees to a Chinese Hierarchy
The fruit of that decision became clear within a generation. By 1949, the number of dioceses entrusted to Chinese clergy had risen to 24 across 12 provinces. Chinese priests increased from 1,272 to 2,785, and their share of total clergy rose from 41.99 percent to 51.11 percent. What began with six appointments had become a majority Chinese clergy serving a growing local hierarchy.
Centenary Conference at the Urbaniana
As the Church marks the anniversary, an international conference titled "The Face of the Universal Church in China" will be held on November 5 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. Bishop Giuseppe Li Shan of Beijing and Bishop Ignazio Ding Zuyao of Haimen are among those taking part, together with Cardinals Parolin, Chow, and Tagle.
Bishop Ding, ordained under the 2018 provisional agreement, leads the same diocese once headed by one of the original six bishops consecrated by Pius XI. The gathering places the memory of 1926 beside the present life of the Catholic Church in China, still bound to the Successor of Peter and to the universal mission first entrusted to those six shepherds a century ago.