KIATING [LESHAN], Diocese of. - 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 grown by 5 civil sub-prefectures ceded by Suifu, it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate; on 9 Feb. 1938, enlarged further by the annexation of the civil sub-prefecture of Loshan (K.), also ceded to it by the mother mission, it took the name of K., from the city that became the residence of the Ordinary; on 11 Apr. 1946, with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, it was elevated to a diocese suffragan 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 about 2,600,000 inhabitants, Catholics numbered 13,345 and catechumens 105. Besides the bishop, there were 24 priests, of whom 5 belonged to the diocese of Suifu; the preparatory seminary had 14 students, the minor seminary 32 and the major seminary 14. The auxiliary personnel counted 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 works were 7 pharmaceutical dispensaries, 5 orphanages with 49 inmates, 1 hospice for the aged with 12 patients. The 2 primary schools had 772 pupils and the 41 prayer and elementary schools 894 listeners.
The vicissitudes of the evangelization of K. are linked to those of the mother mission Suifu (v.); in the territory there are Christian communities whose origin goes back more than 120 years. Even the stations founded at the beginning of this century have faithful of exemplary Christian life. Like the rest of Szechwan, the mission of K. too has suffered, from the earliest years of its independent life, from the grave social and political upheavals influenced by materialism.
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Adamo Pucci