Pope creates new Chinese diocese,
September 10, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope XIV has created a new diocese in China, the Diocese of Zhangjiakou, to be led by Bishop Joseph Wang Zhengui, who was consecrated on September 10.
The new diocese covers the territory of the city of Zhangjiakou. But its creation—which involved the suppression of two smaller dioceses near Beijing—demonstrates the complexity of relations between the Vatican and China under the secret pact governing the appointment of bishops.
The Chinese Patriotic Association had created a “Diocese of Zhangjiakou” in 1980, without the approval of the Holy See. And in formally creating the new jurisdiction, the Pope suppressed two dioceses: Xuanhua and Xiwanzi. The head of the Xuanhua diocese, Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, had been affiliated with the “underground” Church and repeatedly detained by Chinese government officials. At the age of 75, he is now presumably retired—although the Vatican announcement did not mention his status. (The Xiwanzi see was without a bishop at the time of its suppression.)
The Vatican’s September 10 announcement of the new diocese and its bishop explains that this is “the completion of a process of ecclesiastical territorial modification initiated two months ago by Pope Leo XIV.” It does not address the question of whether Chinese officials were involved in that process.
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