CANTON, ARCHDIOCESE OF. — The name derives from the homonymous city, the residence of the archbishop and capital of the civil province of Kwangtung (south-eastern China). The Christian origins of C. date back to St. Francis Xavier.
The territory of the mission formed part of the diocese of Macao until 1850; in that year the Apostolic Prefecture of Kwangtung and Kwangsi was erected and entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions Society. In 1875 the two civil provinces were divided into two distinct Apostolic Prefectures: of Kwangtung and of Kwangsi. That of Kwangtung was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate on 6 April 1914 under the name of C., from which various territories were detached in subsequent years.
On 11 April 1946, with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, C. was elevated to an archdiocese-metropolis.
The territory covers 43,332 sq. km.; as of 30 June 1947 the total population was approximately 4,600,000, of whom only 17,145 were Catholics. The missionary personnel consisted of 28 foreign priests and 41 Chinese priests. There were 117 sisters, of whom 62 were indigenous. On the aforementioned date, the mission also had 3 orphanages with 220 orphans, 1 hospital with 512 beds, and 1 hospice with 109 residents. There were 35 primary and secondary schools, with a total of 3,307 pupils.