Haichow [Lianyungang], Apostolic Prefecture of

HAICHOW [LIANYUNGANG], APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. - In the northern part of the civil province of Kiangsu, in China. It was erected on 9 June 1949 by dividing off the part of the territory that the diocese of Shanghai held north of the missions of Nanking and Haimen, and it was entrusted to the Jesuits of the province of France, who withdrew there when the diocese of Shanghai passed to the Chinese secular clergy.

It extends over approximately 40,000 sq km. At the time of its erection it had about 8,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 8,500 were Catholics and 500 catechumens.

Except for one or two stations founded in 1900 and a few fruitless attempts made around 1910, the evangelization of this territory began only in 1920. The distinctive language, the profoundly superstitious mentality, the greed for gain, the inveterate brigandage and the wars, which from 1926 followed one another almost without interruption, make this region very unrewarding and almost impossible for Christian conquest. The war with Japan raged there, and communist domination rages there now. There were 17 districts, each headed by a missionary: 11 have been completely destroyed and only 6 remain in relative activity. Five fathers have been killed and five others, unaccounted for for more than two years, have either died or are prisoners of the communists.

Adamo Pucci