HINGANFU, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. See Hinganfu.
HINGANFU, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. Situated in the southern part of the civil province of Shensi, in northern China, it was erected as an apostolic prefecture on March 28, 1928, with territory taken Hanchung (v.) ASIA (v.), and was entrusted to the Italian Conventual Franciscans, who had been present in the area since 1924. As an apostolic prefecture, it is directly dependent on the Holy See.
It covers an area of 43,000 sq. km. As of June 30, 1949, with a total population of approximately 1,500,000 inhabitants, there were 3,756 Catholics and 2,110 catechumens; about 100,000 Muslims and 1,000 Protestants, the remainder being pagans. The missionary personnel consisted of 3 Chinese secular priests and 12 Conventual religious priests, of whom 7 were indigenous. Among the auxiliary personnel were 1 Italian Conventual lay brother, 21 Chinese sisters, and several catechists and teachers. There were 15 seminarians in the minor seminary and 2 in the regional seminary of Kaifeng, in Honan. Among the works were 1 hospital with 28 beds; 3 medical dispensaries; 2 orphanages with 21 girls; 1 hospice for the elderly with 12 residents. There were 7 churches, 12 chapels, 5 primary stations, and 24 secondary stations.
Evangelical preaching is of very recent date: in the part of the territory taken from Hanchung, there were only a few elderly Christians from the province of Hupeh when Fr. Domenico Callero, of the Pontifical Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul for Foreign Missions, assisted by a Chinese priest, was able to begin the ministry at H. in 1898. Shortly afterward, Fr. Alberico Crescitelli, of the same seminary, also worked in the Christian community of Ngoukikou; he was killed in hatred of the faith on July 20, 1900, in the mission of Hanchung. In the part of the territory taken from Sian, Christian beginnings are even more recent, dating only from 1920. The Conventuals set to work with zeal and achieved satisfactory results. They nevertheless faced difficulties and losses, including the first apostolic prefect, Fr. Giovanni Soggia, killed by bandits on November 10, 1930, and the second apostolic prefect, Fr. Berardo Baraccu, who died in September 1940 during a Japanese air raid on H.