Diocese of Tianjin
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tianjin/Tíentsín is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Beijing in PR China.
Its cathedral episcopal see is Cathedral of St. Joseph, in the city of Tianjin, which also houses the former cathedral Our Lady of Victory Church .
Data from 1950 indicated there were 50,000 registered Roman Catholics in Tianjin, about 1.4% of the total 3,600,000 population. Data from 2008 estimated 100,000 Catholics in Tianjin after years of persecution, of which 40,000 are officially registered and an estimated 60,000 are underground. This represents about 0.7% of the population of Tianjin.
History
- June 19, 1870: the Tianjin Massacre, an anti-Catholic riot, occurred in the city of Tianjin
- April 27, 1912: The Apostolic Vicariate of Coastal Chi-Li was established on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Chi-Li
- December 3, 1924: Renamed after its see as Apostolic Vicariate of Tianjin
- April 11, 1946: Promoted as Diocese of Tianjin
Ordinaries
; Apostolic Vicars of Coastal Chi-Li- Paul-Marie Dumond, Lazarists, Titular Bishop of Curubis, later Apostolic Administrator of Ganzhou 贛州 becoming Apostolic Vicar of Ganzhou, Apostolic Vicar of Nanchang 南昌
- Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille, C.M., Titular Bishop of Abrittum ; previously Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Southwestern Chi-Li 直隸西南, succeeding as Vicar Apostolic of Southwestern Chi-Li, Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Northern Chi-Li 直隸北境
- Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille, C.M., later Titular Bishop of Abora
- Apostolic Administrator John Zhang Bi-de, while Bishop of Zhaoxian 趙縣
- Apostolic Administrator Fr. Alphonsus Zhao, C.M.
- Uncanonical Li De-pei, without papal mandate
- Stefano Li Side, under house arrest at Ji County for refusing to join the Patriotic Catholic Association
- Melchior Shi Hongzhen, recognised by CPCA since 2024