100 YEARS SINCE THE ORDINATION OF THE FIRST SIX CHINESE BISHOPS - Bishop Aloysius Chen Guodi and the Diocese of Fenyang

Fides News Agency is publishing a series of documentary profiles to mark the centenary of the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops consecrated in modern times.

The Diocese of Fenyang in Shanxi Province was the third diocese to be placed under the leadership of local clergy. Established on May 7, 1926, as the Apostolic Vicariate of Fenyang, it was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Taiyuan, which was then managed by Italian Franciscans. At its founding, the vicariate had 11,492 baptized Catholics and 17 Chinese priests, including its first bishop, Aloysius Chen Guodi.

Bishop Chen Guodi was appointed on May 10, 1926, and was later consecrated by Pope Pius XI in Rome on October 28, 1926, as part of the group of six Chinese bishops. Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Delegate to China, visited Taiyuan in July 1926 to help establish the boundaries for these new dioceses intended for local clergy.