Vatican suppresses two Chinese dioceses and erects new see in Zhangjiakou

The Holy See has announced the suppression of two historic dioceses in northern China and the erection of a new ecclesiastical territory in their place.

The decision, initially approved by Pope Leo XIV on 8 July 2025, has prompted criticism from some observers who see it as a concession to the Chinese Communist Party.

In a decree issued from Rome, the dioceses of Xiwanzi and Xuanhua, both created in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, were formally suppressed. Their territories have now been merged into the newly erected Diocese of Zhangjiakou, a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Beijing.

The Vatican stated that the reorganisation was undertaken “in the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual good”.

The Diocese of Zhangjiakou will encompass the districts of Xuanhua, Qiaodong, Xiahuayuan, Chongli, Qiaoxi and Wanquan, together with the counties of Chicheng, Huailai, Zhuolu, Weixian, Yangyuan, Huai’an, Shangyi, Zhangbei, Guyuan and Kangbao.

Yanqing District has been incorporated into the Archdiocese of Beijing, while Xilinguolemeng City has been added to the Diocese of Jining.

The new diocese covers 36,357 square kilometres and has a total population of more than four million people. Around 85,000 Catholics live in the territory, served by 89 priests.

On Wednesday 10 September 2025, the episcopal ordination of Rev Joseph Wang Zhengui took place in Zhangjiakou. The Pope had appointed him bishop of the new diocese on 8 July. His candidacy was approved within the framework of the Provisional Agreement signed between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.

Bishop Wang, aged 62, has long been associated with the ecclesial structures of Hebei Province. He studied at the Hebei Provincial Seminary from 1984 to 1988 and completed a pastoral internship at Qujiazhuang parish before being ordained priest for the Diocese of Xianxian in 1990. The following year he was named parish priest of Qujiazhuang, later serving in the Diocese of Xuanhua.

Observers in Rome note that Bishop Wang has also been closely linked to the official Catholic organisations recognised by the Chinese state, and for years has been regarded as the Communist Party’s preferred candidate for leadership in Zhangjiakou.

The suppression of Xiwanzi and Xuanhua has been met with sorrow among clergy and faithful attached to the so-called “underground” Church, which has long resisted state oversight. Critics argue that the reorganisation risks sidelining those communities that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution.

Xiwanzi and Xuanhua, both elevated to dioceses in 1946, were among the many ecclesiastical territories established by Pius XII in China shortly before the Communist takeover. For much of the following decades, their bishops and clergy were forced into exile, imprisonment or clandestine ministry.

(Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

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