Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Xianxian

Scienscienen(sis)

Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Xianxian, China

Latin-rite diocese in the Cangzhou region of Hebei province, China, erected in 1856 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Southeastern Chi-Li from the Diocese of Beijing and elevated to diocese in 1946. A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Beijing, its seat is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Xianxian, rebuilt in 2001. Bishop Joseph Li Liangui, appointed in 2000, holds approval from both the Holy See and the Chinese government.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
11 April 1946
Latin
Scienscienen(sis)
Annuario code
001000179

The see in figures

Catholics
62,000
Population
2,200,000
Catholic share
2.8%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
119
Catholics per priest
521
Extent
8,400 km²
Catholics per km²
7.4

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Joseph Li Liangui

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Xianxian stands in Xianxian, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Beijing

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Beijing.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Xianxian, also rendered Síenhsíen (Latin: Scienscienen(sis), Chinese: 獻縣), is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in China. Its episcopal see rests in the village of Zhangzhuang in Xianxian, and it stands as a suffragan within the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Beijing.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

Ask to enter

Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].