CHENGHOW, DIocese of. — It is located in the civil province of Honan (China); erected as an apostolic prefecture on 15 May 1906 under the name of apostolic prefecture of Western Honan with a territory twice as large as the present one. It was entrusted to the Pious Society of St Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions of Parma, whose fathers had been working there since 1904. On 2 May 1911 it was raised to the status of an apostolic vicariate; on 3 December 1924 it took the name of apostolic vicariate of C.; on 11 April 1946, with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, C. became a suffragan diocese of Kaifeng. On 25 May 1929 the extensive territory was divided and the mission of Loyang was erected.
Thus reduced, C. covers an area of 18,000 sq km. The population, as of 30 June 1947, was about 4,000,000, of whom 20,176 were Catholics, distributed among 15 primary stations and 132 secondary ones. There were 16 Italian missionary priests and 13 Chinese priests; 4 foreign lay religious, and 88 sisters, of whom 72 were native. It has suffered much damage from the war.