KIAMUSZE (CHIAMUSSU), APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — The civil prefectures of Yenki and Ilan, which until 19 March 1922 were part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Manchuria (v. CIRINO), were on that date separated from that mission and annexed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan in Korea; on 9 July 1928, the civil prefecture of Ilan was also detached from Wonsan and, erected as a mission *sui iuris*, on 13 April 1937 took the name of K., and on 9 April 1940 was raised to the status of an Apostolic Prefecture.
It was entrusted, like the mother mission of Wonsan, to the Benedictine Congregation of St. Ottilia for Foreign Missions, but, administered by the Apostolic Vicar of Wonsan from its foundation until 15 February 1934, on that date it was transferred to the Capuchins, who send Capuchin friars from the Tyrolese province for missionary work. As an Apostolic Prefecture, it is directly dependent on the Holy See.
It covers an area of 93,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947, with a population of approximately 1,300,000 inhabitants, there were 3,200 Catholics; there were 10 Capuchins and 1 lay brother.
The population of K., which in 1928 was barely 500,000 inhabitants and counted approximately 1,500 Catholics, has rapidly increased due to immigration, particularly from Hopeh and Shantung. The hopes of a promising spread of Christianity have been dashed in recent years by the communist occupation; there have been victims among the missionaries, some of whom have had to leave the mission, while the others have been prevented from working.