TAIPEH, ARCHDIOCESE of. – Located in the northern part of the island of Formosa, it was erected on 30 Dec. 1949 with the rank of apostolic prefecture through the division of the former prefecture of Formosa Island (today Kaoshung), and entrusted to the Chinese Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord.
The city of T., capital of the entire island, has under present circumstances assumed the importance that Chungking had during the last war, because it has become the seat of Chiang-kai-schek’s government. On 7 Aug. 1952, the same apostolic prefecture became a metropolitan archdiocese, with Archbishop Giuseppe Kuo, of the same Congregation, as its archbishop. Numerous foreign missionaries, including Jesuits and Franciscans, expelled from China, have moved to Formosa as collaborators of the Ordinary of T.; there the movement of conversions has shown a considerable increase and, with the multiplication of centres of assistance and religious propaganda, will grow rapidly. On the same date, two other independent missions were erected on Formosa Island:
1. Apostolic Prefecture of Hwalien, constituted by the two civil subprefectures of Hwalienhsien and Taitunghsien, the former detached from the archdiocese of T., and the latter from the apostolic prefecture of Kaoshung, with a population of 433,784 inhabitants. There are barely 500 Catholics. This is a territory geographically isolated from the rest of the island, with only two difficult routes of access from the north and south. It is inhabited by indigenous populations of a race different from that of the rest of the Chinese population, which immigrated, particularly during the last century, from nearby Amoy (Fukien province); these populations have their own customs, live in isolation and, in addition to their special dialects, speak Japanese, which had been taught to them by their former rulers. This new prefecture was entrusted to the Society of the Foreign Missions of Paris.
2. Apostolic Prefecture of Kiay, constituted by the two civil subprefectures of Kiayhsien and Yuinlinhsien, situated in the northern part of the apostolic prefecture of Kaoshung, from which they were detached, and immediately south of the archdiocese of T. This new mission, with a population of 1,036,469 inhabitants, has approximately 5,000 Catholics and was entrusted to the Chinese secular clergy.