100 YEARS SINCE THE ORDINATION OF THE FIRST SIX CHINESE BISHOPS/II - Bishop Melchior Sun Dezhen and the Diocese of Anguo

The Diocese of Anguo was the second ecclesiastical territory in China to be led by a Chinese cleric. Established on April 15, 1924, the diocese was originally the Apostolic Prefecture of Lixian.

Melchior Sun Dezhen served as the first bishop of the diocese. He was appointed Apostolic Prefect on April 15, 1924, and was later named bishop by Pope Pius XI on June 24, 1926. He was among the first six Chinese bishops ordained by Pope Pius XI at St. Peter’s Basilica on October 28, 1926.

Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Delegate to China, worked to establish the prefecture with the help of Father Joseph Fabrègues, a missionary from the Congregation of the Mission. According to Costantini, the Lixian territory differed from the Diocese of Puchi because it possessed a large number of faithful and an established missionary apostolate.