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Diocese of Tianjin

Tienzinen(sis)

Latin-rite diocese covering the municipality of Tianjin, China, erected in 1912 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Coastal Chi-Li from the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Chi-Li and elevated to diocese in 1946. A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Beijing, its seat is St. Joseph Cathedral (Laoxikai Church). Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen, ordinary since 2019, received civil recognition in August 2024.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
11 April 1946
Latin
Tienzinen(sis)
Annuario code
001003221

The see in figures

Catholics
100,000
Population
15,000,000
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
0.7%
Priests
62
Catholics per priest
1,613
Extent
12,560 km²
Catholics per km²
8.0

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
Melchior Shi Hongzhen

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

St. Joseph Cathedral (Laoxikai Church), Tianjin stands in Tianjin, 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

A suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Beijing in China, the Diocese of Tianjin/Tíentsín (Latin: Tienzinen(sis); Chinese: 天津; pinyin: Tiānjīn) has as its cathedral episcopal see the Cathedral of St. Joseph (Laoxikai Church) in the city of Tianjin, which also contains the former cathedral, Our Lady of Victory Church (Wanghailou Church) (圣母得勝堂(望海樓天主堂)). Figures from 1950 recorded 50,000 registered Catholics in Tianjin, roughly 1.4% of a total population of 3,600,000.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.