Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang
Sinsiangen(sis)
Apostolic prefecture · Latin Church · Xinxiang, China
Latin Church apostolic prefecture seated at Xinxiang in Henan, China, erected on July 7, 1936 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Weihuifu. It is exempt, immediately subject to the Holy See. Bishop Francis Li Jianlin was installed on December 5, 2025, succeeding the long-persecuted underground Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, whose resignation the Holy See accepted.
The see
- Rank
- Apostolic prefecture
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 7 July 1936
- Latin
- Sinsiangen(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000503
The see in figures
- Extent
- 8,291 km²
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
- Francis Li Jianlin
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
Hongqi District stands in Xinxiang, 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.
History
A prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China, Xinxiang (simplified Chinese: 新乡; traditional Chinese: 新鄉; pinyin: Xīnxiāng [ɕín.ɕjáŋ]; postal: Sinsiang) counted 6,251,929 people at the 2020 Chinese Census. The provincial capital of Zhengzhou lies to its southwest and Kaifeng to its southeast, with Hebi and Anyang to the north, Jiaozuo to the west, and the provinces of Shanxi and Shandong to the northwest and east respectively.
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.
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].