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Archdiocese of Kunming

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Archdiocese of Kunming
Archidioecesis Coenmimensis
天主教昆明總教區
天主教昆明总教区
Former Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Kunming, demolished in 2021
Former Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Kunming, demolished in 2021
Location
Country China
Ecclesiastical province Kunming
Statistics
Area 150,000 km2 (58,000 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics
(as of 1950)
8,000,000
10,025 (0.1%)
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Cathedral Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Kunming
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Metropolitan Archbishop Sede vacante
Map
Map of the Yunnan Mission, prepared by Adrien Launay, 1889.

The Archdiocese of Kunming (Latin: Archidioecesis Coenmimensis; Chinese: 天主教昆明總教區) is an archdiocese located in the city of Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan, southwestern China.

Overview

The Archdiocese has not had a legitimate, Vatican-appointed archbishop since 1952, when French Archbishop Alexandre Derouineau was expelled from China in the aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution.[1]

The government of the People's Republic of China installed Father Kong Lingzhong as archbishop in 1962 and Father Joseph Ma Yinglin as archbishop in 2006.[1] Neither government appointment is considered legitimate by the Vatican since they were not appointed by the papacy.[1]

In 2000, the Vatican appointed Lawrence Zhang Wen-Chang as Apostolic Administrator of Kunming. He served until his death in 2012.[1]

History

The first Catholics in Yunnan were refugees fleeing from the Massacre of Sichuan (Szechwan) perpetrated by Zhang Xianzhong in the 1640s. In 1658, a significant number of Catholics retreated to Kunming with the Yongli Emperor, whose family and court were converted to Catholicism by the German Jesuit Andreas Xavier Koffler. After the emperor's death, most of the Catholics settled in Kunming.[2]

  • 1687: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Kwangtung-Kwangsi-Yunnan from the Apostolic Vicariate of Fokien
  • 1696: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnan
  • 1715: Suppressed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan
  • August 28, 1840: Restored as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnan from the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan
  • December 8, 1924: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Yunnanfu
  • April 11, 1946: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kunming

Bishops

Vicar Apostolic of Kwangtung-Kwangsi-Yunnan
Vicars Apostolic of Yunnan
Vicars Apostolic of Yunnanfu
Archbishops of Kunming

Suffragan dioceses

See also

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Archdiocese of Kunming is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church.[3]

References

Bibliography

25°04′00″N 102°40′59″E / 25.0667°N 102.6830°E