Vatican News
The episcopal consecration of the Reverend Joseph Wang Zhengui on Wednesday, Sep 10, marks the completion of a process of ecclesiastical territorial modification initiated two months ago by Pope Leo XIV.
“With the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual good,” a statement from the Holy See Press Office explains, “on Jul 8 2025 the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV decided to suppress the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, in Continental China, which were erected on Apr 11 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and at the same time to erect the new diocese of Zhangjiakou, suffragan of Beijing, with its episcopal see in the Cathedral Church of Zhangjiakou.”
On that same day, Pope Leo appointed Father Wang Zhengui as Bishop of Zhangjiakou, “having approved the candidacy in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,” according to the Press Office statement.
The new bishop
Bishop Joseph Wang Zhengui “was born on Nov 19 1962. From 1984 to 1988 he attended the provincial seminary of Hebei. In the two following years he carried out a pastoral apprenticeship in the parish of Qujiazhuang.
On May 24 1990 he was ordained a priest for the diocese of Xianxian, where he was assigned to the same parish, of which he was appointed parish priest in 1991. He subsequently carried out his ministry in the diocese of Xuanhua.
The new diocese
With the suppression of the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, the new diocese of Zhangjiakou has a total area of 36,357 km² and a population of 4,032,600, of whom approximately 85,000 are Catholics, with 89 priests.
The ecclesiastical boundaries of the new diocese, according to the Holy See Press Office, will include the following areas: the districts of Xuanhua, Qiaodong, Xiahuayuan, Chongli, Qiaoxi, and Wanquan; and the counties of Chicheng, Huailai, Zhuolu, Weixian, Yangyuan, Huai’an, Shangyi, Zhangbei, Guyuan, and Kangbao.
In this way, the territory of the new diocese conforms to that of the city of Zhangjiakou, from which it takes its name.
Meanwhile, the district of Yanqing has been incorporated into the Archdiocese of Beijing, while the city of Xilinguolemeng has been incorporated into the Diocese of Jining. – Vatican News
