Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yu Ci (Agenzia Fides) - Thousands of faithful from the Diocese of Jin Zhong in Shan Xi province, received with great enthusiasm and joy three new priests on August 24, the day the Church remembers St. Bartholomew, Apostle and Martyr. A hundred priests from all over the country concelebrated the solemn liturgy of ordination presided by His Exc. Mgr. Wang Jin, Bishop of the Diocese of Jin Zhong, who was visibly moved. In fact, he confided to Faith (the Catholic bulletin which has on-line service) of He Bei: the new priests "are the result of 10 years of hard work and pastoral formation. The seed planted in the past, today has grown and become a tree. Pray for the priests, pray for our diocese, so that the Gospel of Christ is spread more and more".
The territory of the present Diocese of Yu Ci (today Jin Zhong) originally belonged to the Archdiocese of Tai Yuan (capital of Shan Xi province), which was separated on 7 June 1931. It became an Apostolic Prefecture in 1932, Apostolic Vicariate in 1944 and Diocese in 1946, the year of the establishment of the Hierarchy in China, with the first Italian Dominican Bishop Ermenegildo Focaccia. Today the diocese has more than 20 thousand faithful, thirty priests, 29 seminarians and about 30 religious women of the diocesan congregation of the Assumption. In addition, the diocese runs a clinic that provides medical care, and uses both traditional Chinese and western methods. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 30/08/2011)
