Chinese faithful at prayer (AFP or licensors)
Bishop consecrated for Chinese diocese created by Pope
Leo XIV
In conformity with the Provisional Agreement between the
Holy See and the Chinese government, Joseph Wang Zhengui receives episcopal consecration,
becoming the first bishop of the new diocese of Zhangjiakou, created two months
ago by Pope Leo XIV.
Vatican News
The episcopal consecration of the Reverend Joseph Wang
Zhengui on Wednesday, 10 September, marks the completion of a process of ecclesiastical
territorial modification initiated two months ago by Pope Leo XIV.
“With the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s
flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual good,” a statement from
the Holy See Press Office explains, “on 8 July 2025 the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV
decided to suppress the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, in Continental China,
which were erected on 11 April 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and at the same time to
erect the new diocese of Zhangjiakou, suffragan of Beijing, with its episcopal
see in the Cathedral Church of Zhangjiakou.”
On that same day, Pope Leo appointed Father Wang Zhengui as
Bishop of Zhangjiakou, “having approved the candidacy in the framework of the
Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,”
according to the Press Office statement.
The new bishop
Bishop Joseph Wang Zhengui “was born on 19 November 1962.
From 1984 to 1988 he attended the provincial seminary of Hebei. In the two
following years he carried out a pastoral apprenticeship in the parish of
Qujiazhuang.
On 24 May 1990 he was ordained a priest for the diocese of
Xianxian, where he was assigned to the same parish, of which he was appointed
parish priest in 1991. He subsequently carried out his ministry in the diocese
of Xuanhua.
The new diocese
With the suppression of the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi,
the new diocese of Zhangjiakou has a total area of 36,357 km² and a population
of 4,032,600, of whom approximately 85,000 are Catholics, with 89 priests.
The ecclesiastical boundaries of the new diocese, according
to the Holy See Press Office, will include the following areas: the districts
of Xuanhua, Qiaodong, Xiahuayuan, Chongli, Qiaoxi, and Wanquan; and the
counties of Chicheng, Huailai, Zhuolu, Weixian, Yangyuan, Huai'an, Shangyi,
Zhangbei, Guyuan, and Kangbao.
In this way, the territory of the new diocese conforms to
that of the city of Zhangjiakou, from which it takes its name.
Meanwhile, the district of Yanqing has been incorporated
into the Archdiocese of Beijing, while the city of Xilinguolemeng has been
incorporated into the Diocese of Jining.
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