Suppression of the dioceses of Xiwanzi and Xuanhua with the erection of the diocese of Zhangjiakou, China, and consecration of the first bishop of Zhangjiakou, China
With the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock and to attend more effectively to its spiritual good, on 8 July 2025 the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV decided to suppress the dioceses of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi, in Continental China, which were erected on 11 April 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.
The ecclesiastical borders of the new diocese will include the following areas: the quarters of Xuanhua, Qiaodong, Xiahuayuan, Chongli,Qiaoxi, and Wanquan; and the counties of Chicheng, Huailai, Zhuolu, Weixian, Yangyuan, Huai’an, Shangyi,Zhangbei, Guyuan, and Kangbao.
The Quarter of Yanqing is instead incorporated into the archdiocese of Beijing, while the city of Xilinguolemeng is incorporated into the diocese of Jining.
In this way, the territory of the diocese of Zhangjiakou conforms to that of the principal city of Zhangjiakou, with a total area of 36,357 km2 and a total population of 4,032,600 inhabitants, of whom around 85,000 are Catholics, served by 89 priests.
Consecration of the first bishop of Zhangjiakou, China
Today, Wednesday 10 September 2025, the episcopal ordination of the Reverend Giuseppe Wang Zhengui took place. The Holy Father, on 8 July 2025, appointed him bishop of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, having approved the candidacy in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.
Curriculum vitae
The Reverend Giuseppe Wang Zhengui was born on 19 November 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 24 May 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.
