Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yu Ci (Agenzia Fides) – The Diocese of Zhong Jin (Yu Ci) is celebrating the ordination of two priests and two deacons. The solemn celebration was held yesterday, September 29, at the diocesan Cathedral, presided by diocesan Bishop Wang Jin. According to information sent to Fides, some seventy priests concelebrated in the presence of some thirty religious and more than 2,000 faithful. One of the new priests, Father Sun Jian Xin, is from the village of Liu He, famous for its many vocations. Fr. Sun is the 29th priest to be ordained from this village since the opening of China in the 1980s.
The Diocese of Yu Ci (modern day Jin Zhong) originally belonged to the Archdiocese of Tai Yuan (the capital of the Shan Xi province), from which it was separated on June 7, 1931. It became an Apostolic Prefecture in 1932, an Apostolic Vicariate in 1944 and a Diocese in 1946, the year of the institution of the hierarchy in China. Its first bishop was the Italian Dominican Ermenegildo Focaccia. Today, the diocese has over 20,000 faithful, 30 priests, 29 seminarians, and 30 religious sisters of the diocesan congregation of the Assumption. The diocese also runs a clinic offering medical treatment in both the Western and Chinese tradition. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 30/09/2010)
