Zhengding Diocese compilatie van Zr. Gaby

Zhengding Diocese, in Heibei Province

The Catholic Diocese of Zhengding is a famous Catholic diocese established in 1856, in Hebei Province, China. The Catholicism in Zhengding has a long history, which can be traced back to the end of the Ming Dynasty. After Emperor Yongzheng banned Catholicism, some Catholics fled from Beijing with their families and settled in the countryside of Zhengding Prefecture (called Nantang Catholics). Most of the parishioners are concentrated in Gaocheng, Luancheng, Zhao and Ningjin counties.

Joseph-Martial Mouly, C.M , The first Apostolic Administrator in the Zhengding diocese

In the eighth year of Xianfeng emperor (1858), the French Catholic missionary Jean-Baptiste Anouilh, came to Zhengding and served as the Apostolic Vicar of the Southwest Vicar of Zhili (ie Bishop of Zhengding Diocese).

His successor, Bishop Dai Shiji (Mgr Tagliabue, 1822-1894), focused on organizing and training men and women monks, catechists and lay people.

In 1884, Bishop Mgr Tagliabue was sent to Beijing as the vicar bishop of the northern Zhili, and his successor was Bishop Mgr Sarthou in Zhengding.

Jules-Auguste Coqset，CM, French, bishop from May 3, 1907 to February 4, 1917

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Zhengding Catholic Church Massacre occurred in Zhengding Diocese. On October 9, 1937, the second day after the Japanese army occupied Zhengding City, the Japanese army sacked the Zhengding Cathedral, nine foreign clerics were killed.

When the Japanese army attacked Zhengding County, about 20,000 people took refuge in the Catholic Church in Zhengding County. On the afternoon of October 9, the Japanese army asked women hiding in the church, Bishop Schraven was sternly rejected by Bishop (Dutch).
Later, a group of Japanese troops broke into the church and arrested Bishop Schraven who was having a meal, with the several monks, and put them into a car. Bishop Schraven with other eight accompanies were all killed at that night. The location of the murder: in the south side of the Lingxiao Pagoda of Tianning Temple.

The names of the murdered people

被害外籍神职人员包括:
荷兰籍主教文致和（65 岁）
法国神父夏露贤艾德偲（62 岁，荷兰）
贝德良（32 岁，法国）
柴慎成（65 岁，克罗地亚）
荷兰神父魏之纲（28 岁）
波兰神父白来福（28 岁）
法国熙笃会霍修士（60 岁）
捷克钢琴师毕先生

The location of the massacre : in the south side of the Lingxiao Pagoda of Tianning Temple.
After the massacre, after a series of negotiations, the Japanese army finally apologized for the incident under pressure, and was assured that similar incidents would not happen again in the future. At the request of Yokoyama, the representative of the Japanese military in charge of investigating the matter, a memorial mass was held at Zhengding Catholic church on November 22 for the nine martyrs. The commander-in-chief of the Japanese Army from the north of China also sent a message of condolence, which was read before the Mass.

The Catholics of Zhengding Diocese mourn martyrs in the cemetery. After the Mass, the relics in the box containing Bishop Schraven and his accompanies were escorted to the suburban of Baitang village, where they were buried together in a Catholic cemetery.
In November 1939, Mgr Marius Zanin, the Apostolic Nuncio to China appointed the Vicar Bishop Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille in Tianjin to become an Apostolic Administrator in the Zhengding Diocese.

Bishop Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille CM, the Zhengding Diocese
On January 5, 1939, at the recommendation of Bishop Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille and Archbishop Marius Zanin, the Holy See appointed Bishop Job Chen Qiming as Apostolic Vicar of the Catholic Zhengding Diocese; on January 26, 1939, Pope Pius XI conferred Bishop Jean de Vienne de Hautefeuille as the Bishop of Zhengding.
On April 11, 1946, the Holy See announced the to establish Catholic Church Hierarchy in China, and the vicar of Zhengding was elevated a Diocese.

After 1949, Zhengding Cathedral was occupied by the army hospital, and the diocese moved to the Shijiazhuang city.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the faithful attended the church liturgy at the Bishop’s house of Zhengding Diocese had to kneel outside because there were too many people.

Postcard from Zhengdingfu Church in Late Qing Dynasty: adopted girl in a weaving home

the old superior of the sisters of charity in the Zhengding church

Zhengding Diocese postcard during the Republic of China

Patients in the Catholi hospital in Zhengding

Bishop Schraven wears a robe and a jacket.

Old photos of Zhengding church:

Catholics in the Zhengding Diocese mourn martyrs in the cemetery.

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