The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kunming is an archdiocese located in the city of Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan, southwestern China.

Overview

The Archdiocese has not had a legitimate, Vatican-appointed archbishop since 1952, when French Archbishop Alexandre Derouineau was expelled from China in the aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution. The government of the People's Republic of China installed Father Kong Lingzhong as archbishop in 1962 and Father Joseph Ma Yinglin as archbishop in 2006. Neither government appointment is considered legitimate by the Vatican since they were not appointed by the papacy. In 2000, the Vatican appointed Lawrence Zhang Wen-Chang as Apostolic Administrator of Kunming. He served until his death in 2012.

History

The first Catholics in Yunnan were refugees fleeing from the Massacre of Sichuan (Szechwan) perpetrated by Zhang Xianzhong in the 1640s. In 1658, a significant number of Catholics retreated to Kunming with the Yongli Emperor, whose family and court were converted to Catholicism by the German Jesuit Andreas Xavier Koffler. After the emperor's death, most of the Catholics settled in Kunming.

Bishops

Suffragan dioceses

Sources