JEHOL [CHENGDE], Diocese of. - Mission of eastern Mongolia, erected on 11 Dec. 1883 as an apostolic vicariate; after various boundary changes, it received its present name of J. on 12 Dec. 1924. It was elevated to a diocese on 11 Apr. 1946, suffragan of Moukden. It is entrusted to the care of the missionaries of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scheut).
Before 1830 no missionary had succeeded in setting foot in the territory of J., with the possible exception of a few Jesuits in the Emperor's retinue. Subsequently, however, evangelization made good progress there. The faith of the Christians was tested by two persecutions: the first in 1891, in which Fr. Pietro Lin and 60 neophytes met their death; the second in 1900, in which Fr. Giuseppe Seghera and 200 of the faithful were killed. The diocese of J. has an area of 789,117 sq. km. and a population of 5,237,314 inhabitants. It borders on the dioceses of Chihfeng and Szepingkai; on the archdiocese of Moukden and the sea; on the diocese of Yungping and the archdiocese of Peking; and lastly on the diocese of Sivante. The number of Catholics is around 32,000, with 115 catechumens. Foreign priests 56, native 20; native brothers 45; novices 10; native religious women 29; postulants 12; major seminarians 14, minor 39; catechists 79; missionary residences 37; Christian communities 109; churches and chapels 83; dispensaries 16; orphanages 13 with 216 children; homes for the aged 5; primary schools with a total enrollment of 1928 pupils. At present it finds itself under communist rule.
Bibliography4 works
Edoardo Pecoraio