100 YEARS SINCE THE ORDINATIONS OF THE FIRST SIX CHINESE BISHOPS - Bishop Simone Zhu Kaimin and the Diocese of Haimen

The Diocese of Haimen marks the centenary of the appointment of its first bishop, Simon Zhu Kaimin. On October 28, 1926, Pope Pius XI consecrated Zhu Kaimin in Rome as one of the first six Chinese bishops ordained in modern times.

The Diocese of Haimen was established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Haimen on August 11, 1926. It was the sixth ecclesiastical jurisdiction in China to be placed under the leadership of a member of the Chinese clergy. This transition followed directives from the 1924 Primum Concilium Sinense synod held in Shanghai.

Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Delegate to China, sought to create a new jurisdiction from territory previously under the Diocese of Shanghai to fulfill these directives. According to his memoirs, Costantini traveled to Shanghai in May 1926 to select a location and a candidate for the new vicariate. Zhu Kaimin had been appointed Apostolic Vicar on August 2, 1926, prior to his episcopal consecration.