Kaifeng, Archdiocese of

KAIFENG, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - In the civil province of Honan, in central China. Erected as an autonomous mission, under the name of apostolic vicariate of Eastern Honan, on 21 Sept. 1916, by division of the apostolic vicariate of Southern Honan (v. NANYANG), and entrusted, like the mother mission, to the then Institute for Foreign Missions of Milan, it took its name from the city of K. on 3 Dec. 1924; on 15 Dec. 1927 it ceded certain civil sub-prefectures which, together with others from the mission of Nanyang, gave rise to the apostolic prefecture of Sinyangchow (v. SINYANG), and on 19 June 1928 it was divided to give life to the present diocese of Kweiteh (v.). With the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, on 11 Apr. 1946, K. was elevated to a metropolitan archdiocese of the ecclesiastical province of Honan, with the dioceses of Chengchow, Chumatien, Kweiteh, Loyang, Nanyang, Sinyang and Weihwei as suffragans.

It has an area of 24,000 sq km. As of 30 June 1947, out of a population of ca. 4,500,000 inhabitants, Catholics numbered 18,018 and catechumens 970. Besides the archbishop, there were 17 Italian and 11 Chinese priests. The minor seminary had 7 students, 1 philosopher, and 3 theologians from K. were studying in the regional seminary of Honan, which is located in K. Among the auxiliary personnel there were 2 Italian brothers, 92 sisters, of whom 65 were Chinese, and 22 catechists. In the 18 ecclesiastical districts, corresponding to the 18 civil prefectures, 162 Christian communities were scattered; gathered in 19 primary and 162 secondary stations, with 17 churches, 28 oratories and 34 chapels. The primary schools were 9 with 1669 children, the secondary schools 2 with 1302 pupils, and the schools of prayer and first elements 7 with 275 listeners. Among the works were 1 orphanage with 39 inmates, 1 hospital with 40 beds and 12 medical dispensaries. The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, which has 5 missions in China, has built in K., capital of the civil province of Honan, the regional house for the study of the Chinese language and the immediate preparation of its missionaries for the apostolic life.

It is not known to whom the first Christian preaching in K. is owed. It seems that in 1605 there was, besides a colony of Jews, a nucleus of descendants of ancient Christians, who called themselves "worshippers of the Cross" (Nestorians), who later disappeared. In the 17th century several Jesuit religious resided in K., among them Fathers Trigault, Sambiasi, Figueredo, Herdtrich and Gozzani, but the persecution of 1724 erased every memory of their ministry, so much so that in 1837 the Bl. Perboyre found in K. only about ten Christians, clockmakers by trade, natives of Peking: later they too disappeared. Throughout the 19th century no missionary could establish himself in K.; this was finally achieved in 1902-1904 by the then Father Tacconi, who was afterwards the first apostolic vicar of K. and to whose activity the great development made by the mission is due.

Adamo Pucci