Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kunming

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kunming (Latin: Archidioecesis Coenmimensis; Chinese: 天主教昆明總教區) is an archdiocese located in the city of Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan, southwestern China.

Archdiocese of Kunming

Archidioecesis Coenmimensis

天主教昆明總教區
天主教昆明总教区
Former Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Kunming, demolished in 2021
Location
CountryChina
Ecclesiastical provinceKunming
Statistics
Area150,000 km2 (58,000 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 1950)
8,000,000
10,025 (0.1%)
Information
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
CathedralSacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Kunming
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Metropolitan ArchbishopSede vacante
Map
Map of the Yunnan Mission, prepared by Adrien Launay [fr], 1889.
Map of the Yunnan Mission, prepared by Adrien Launay [fr], 1889.

Overview

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The Archdiocese has not had a legitimate, Vatican-appointed archbishop since 1952, when French Archbishop Alexandre Derouineau [zh] was expelled from China in the aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution.[1]

The government of the People's Republic of China installed Father Kong Lingzhong as archbishop in 1962 and Father Joseph Ma Yinglin as archbishop in 2006.[1] Neither government appointment is considered legitimate by the Vatican since they were not appointed by the papacy.[1]

In 2000, the Vatican appointed Lawrence Zhang Wen-Chang as Apostolic Administrator of Kunming. He served until his death in 2012.[1]

History

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Genealogy of MEP ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Szechwan, with its three attachments: Tibet, Yunnan and Kweichow.

The first Catholics in Yunnan were refugees fleeing from the Massacre of Sichuan [zh] (Szechwan) perpetrated by Zhang Xianzhong in the 1640s. In 1658, a significant number of Catholics retreated to Kunming with the Yongli Emperor, whose family and court were converted to Catholicism by the German Jesuit Andreas Xavier Koffler. After the emperor's death, most of the Catholics settled in Kunming.[2]

  • 1687: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Kwangtung-Kwangsi-Yunnan from the Apostolic Vicariate of Fokien
  • 1696: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnan
  • 1715: Suppressed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan
  • August 28, 1840: Restored as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnan from the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan
  • December 8, 1924: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnanfu
  • April 11, 1946: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kunming

Bishops

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Vicar Apostolic of Kwangtung-Kwangsi-Yunnan
Vicars Apostolic of Yunnan
Vicars Apostolic of Yunnanfu
Archbishops of Kunming

Suffragan dioceses

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See also

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Sources

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "'Underground' administrator dies". Union of Catholic Asian News. February 7, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "明清時代的珠江文化——第四節 明清珠江流域的宗教文化(2)" [Culture along the Pearl River during the Ming and Qing era: Its Religious Culture (part 2)]. hk.crntt.com (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved November 7, 2023.

25°04′00″N 102°40′59″E / 25.0667°N 102.6830°E / 25.0667; 102.6830