NANCHENG, DIOCESE of. - In the eastern part of the civil and ecclesiastical province of Kiangsi (central China). It was erected as an apostolic prefecture, under the name of Kienchanku, on 29 Nov. 1932, with 5 civil subprefectures Yükiang (v.) and was entrusted to the Society of St. Columban for the Chinese Missions, whose fathers had been working in that territory since 1928. On 13 Dec. 1938 it was raised to an apostolic vicariate and took its present name; with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, on 11 Apr. 1946, it became a diocese, suffragan of Nanchang.
It has an area of 8,696 sq. km. On 30 June 1949 it had approximately 500,000 inhabitants, of whom 9,037 were Catholics and 273 catechumens. It was served by 17 fathers of the Society of St. Columban and 4 Chinese secular priests, assisted by 4 Irish sisters, 85 catechists, and 54 teachers. It had 1 preparatory seminary, 1 minor seminary, and 1 major seminary. Primary stations 13, secondary stations 25; churches 12, chapels 7; 1 hospital; 12 medical dispensaries; 1 orphanage; 1 home for the aged and 1 for the blind; 9 elementary schools, 1 secondary school, and 10 schools of prayer and elementary instruction.
It seems that Fr. Giovanni de Rocha was the first herald of the Gospel at N., where, having fled from the city of Nanchang because of a persecution unleashed there in 1616, he is said to have founded “a fine Christian community.” Subsequently, the history of Catholicism in this region merges with that of the other missions of Kiangsi (v. KIAN; NANCHANG; YUKIANG, DIOCESI DI).