PUCHI, DIOCESE of. - In the southern part of the province of Hupeh, in central China. It was erected as an apostolic prefecture on 12 Dec. 1923 from four civil sub-prefectures of the apostolic vicariate of eastern Hupeh, Hankow (v.), and was the first ecclesiastical jurisdiction entrusted to the Chinese secular clergy. On 10 May 1951 it was raised to a diocese suffragan to Hankow.
It has an area of approximately 8,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947, out of a total population of approximately 750,000 inhabitants, there were 5,125 Catholics and 701 catechumens; 10 priests and 7 seminarians. There were also 10 nuns and 2 teachers. The territory, divided into 4 districts, had 2 churches, 8 principal stations, and 8 secondary ones. Its institutions included 2 medical dispensaries, 1 orphanage, and 1 hospice for the blind. The 3 elementary schools had 410 pupils.
The beginnings of Christianity in the territory of P. probably date back to the middle of the 17th century. More recently, there is information about Christians at Wusinchow (Sitchung) and Tungchenghsien. At the time of the erection of the prefecture, in 1923, the faithful numbered 800, the fruit of the Franciscan mission of eastern Hupeh.