Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides)
Text in Italian
In the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual wellbeing, on 28 October 2024 the Supreme Pontiff Francis decided to suppress the diocese of Fenyang in continental China, which was erected on 11 April 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and at the same time to erect the new diocese of Lüliang, suffragan of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, with its episcopal see in the Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, located in Fenyang, city of Lüliang. The ecclesiastical borders of the new diocese will include the following areas: the quarter of Lishi, the counties of Wenshui, Jiaocheng, Xingxian, Linxian, Liulin, Shilou, Lanxian, Fangshan, Zhongyang, Jiaokou and the city-counties of Xiaoyi and Fenyang. Instead, the counties of Kelan and Jingle are incorporated into the archdiocese of Taiyuan, whereas the counties of Pingyao and Jiexiu are incorporated into the diocese of Yuci. In this way, the territory of the diocese of Lüliang conforms to that of the prefecture-level city of Lüliang, with a total area of 21,000 km2 and a total population of 3,346,500 inhabitants, of whom approximately 20,000 are Catholics, served by 51 priests and 26 religious sisters.
(EG) (Agenzia Fides, 20/1/2025)
