Agenzia Fides recalls China’s first Bishops receiving Episcopal Ordination

In brief

Agenzia Fides marks the centenary of the departure of six Chinese apostolic vicars who traveled to Rome to be ordained as bishops. On September 10, 1926, the group left the port of Shanghai accompanied by Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Delegate to China.

The six vicars traveled to Rome to receive episcopal ordination from Pope Pius XI. Their consecration took place on October 28, 1926, at St. Peter’s Basilica. Following the ceremony, the bishops traveled through four European countries, where they received enthusiastic welcomes, including in Leuven, Belgium.

The journey followed the 1924 Primum Concilium Sinense, a council for the Church in China held in Shanghai and led by Archbishop Costantini on behalf of the Pope. Peter Zhao Jianmin notes that the event provided a sense of dignity to the Catholic community and the Chinese nation.