UPDATE: Pope erects new diocese in China, names new bishop

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV formally suppressed two dioceses in China and erected a new one, which already had been operating without the Vatican's consent.

"With a desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord's flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual well-being," Pope Leo decided to suppress the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi and to erect the new diocese of Zhangjiakou, the Vatican press office said Sept. 10.

The two former dioceses had been established by Pope Pius XII in 1946.

The Vatican press office said Pope Leo had made the decision July 8, the same day he had nominated as bishop of the new diocese Father Joseph Wang Zhengui, "having approved his candidacy within the framework of the provisional agreement" between the Vatican and the Chinese government.

The Vatican then announced Sept. 12 that the pope and the Chinese government agreed that Bishop Joseph Ma Yan'en, 65, would be the auxiliary bishop of Zhangjiakou. For the Vatican, Bishop Ma Yan'en had been a bishop since 2010 and head of the Diocese of Xiwanzi since 2013, but he was not recognized by the government until now.

The Chinese government also had not recognized the head of the Diocese of Xuanhua as a bishop and, in fact, had repeatedly detained Bishop Augustine Cui Tai of Xuanhua.

With the suppression of the diocese, 75-year-old Bishop Cui Tai is retired, the Vatican said, but the Chinese government recognizes his status as a bishop.

"These events, the result of dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities, represent a significant step forward in the journey of communion for the new Diocese" of Zhangjiakou, the Vatican said.

The Vatican-Chinese provisional agreement, which has never been published, was first signed in 2018 and outlines procedures for ensuring that Catholic bishops elected by the Catholic community in China are approved by the pope before their ordinations or installations. The agreement was renewed in October 2024 for a four-year period.

Bishop Wang Zhengui, 62, the new bishop of Zhangjiakou, received his episcopal ordination Sept. 10, the Vatican said. He had attended the provincial seminary in Hebei and was ordained to the priesthood May 24, 1990, for the Diocese of Xianxian. He later also ministered in the Diocese of Xuanhua.

AsiaNews, a news agency promoted by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, had reported in May 2021 that the Chinese government already recognized Zhangjiakou as a diocese and that while not functioning as a bishop, Father Wang Zhengui already was coordinating pastoral activity there.

Most of the territory of the two suppressed dioceses was incorporated into the new Diocese of Zhangjiakou, the Vatican said. Just over 4 million people live within the diocesan boundaries, and about 85,000 of them are Catholics, who are served by 89 priests.

Zhangjiakou is about 125 miles northeast of Beijing.