KIATING, DIOCESI di. – In the western part of the civil province of Szechwan, in central China. It was erected as an apostolic prefecture, under the name of Yachow, on 19 July 1929, by division of the apostolic vicariate of Suifu; on 3 March 1933, having been enlarged by five civil subprefectures ceded by Suifu, it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate; on 9 February 1938, enlarged further by the annexation of the civil subprefecture of Loshan (K.), also ceded to it by the mother mission, it took the name of K., from the city which became the residence of the Ordinary; on 11 April 1946, with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, it was elevated to a suffragan diocese of Chungking. From the beginning it was entrusted to the care of the Chinese secular clergy.
As of 30 June 1947, out of a population of approximately 2,600,000 inhabitants, there were 13,345 Catholics and 105 catechumens. Besides the bishop, there were 24 priests, 5 of whom belonged to the diocese of Suifu; the preparatory seminary had 14 students, the minor seminary 32, and the major seminary 14. The auxiliary personnel consisted of 34 religious women, 46 catechists, 65 teachers, and 26 baptizers. The territory, divided into 16 parishes and 168 mission stations, had 7 churches and 15 chapels. Among the institutions were 7 dispensaries, 5 orphanages with 49 residents, and 1 home for the elderly with 12 residents. The 2 primary schools had 772 pupils, and the 41 schools of prayer and elementary instruction had 894 attendees.
The history of the evangelization of K. is connected with that Suifu (v.); within the territory there are Christian communities whose origins go back more than 120 years. The stations founded at the beginning of this century likewise have faithful of exemplary Christian lives. Like the rest of Szechwan, the mission of K. has suffered, from the earliest years of its independent existence, from serious social and political disturbances influenced by materialism.