WEIHWEI [WEIHUI], Diocese of. - In the northern part of the province of Honan, in central China.
It was erected as an apostolic vicariate under the name of Northern Honan on 1 September 1882, by division from that of Honan (v. NANYANG), which ceded the entire territory of this province to the left of the Yellow River. On 3 December 1924 it received its present name from the city of W., the residence of the Ordinary; on 7 July 1936 it ceded 12 civil subprefectures to give life to the apostolic prefecture of Sinsiang (v.); on 11 April 1946, with the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, it was elevated to a diocese, suffragan of Kaifeng. It has been entrusted from the beginning, like the mother mission, to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions of Milan. It has an area of about 25,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947, out of a total population of about 3,600,000 inhabitants, Catholics numbered 46,000; priests 45, of whom 14 were Chinese; major seminarians 7, minor seminarians 25; sisters 50, of whom 50 were indigenous. Among the works, besides the minor seminary, there were 1 hospital, 2 orphanages, 12 medicine dispensaries, 4 foundling homes, 1 hospice for the incurable; 38 schools.
The first evangelical preaching in the territory of W. dates back to the first decades of the 18th century and was carried out by the Jesuits of Peking, especially in the subprefecture of Chantch, where in 1884 numerous faithful, descendants of that ancient and strong Christianity, were found by the missionaries of Milan. These, having fixed the center of their activity at Siaochwang, were nevertheless able to gather very little fruit from their work: opposed by the local mandarin, who warned them not to remain in the place, they had to hide during the persecution of the Boxers, who raged somewhat everywhere and in the subprefecture of Wuan burned the church and massacred several tens of Christians. But after that date of blood (1900) the mission changed its appearance and became one of the most flourishing and richest in baptisms of adults: in the second decade of the present century the principal seat of the mission was transferred to W.
Bibliography5 works
Adamo Pucci