Catholic Church in Taiwan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Catholic Church in Taiwan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The island has been part of a territorial jurisdiction since 1514, when it was included in the Diocese of Funchal. As a missionary jurisdiction, there was some organized Catholic activity on the island. In 1576, the first Chinese diocese was established in Macau. This covered most of mainland China as well as Taiwan. From the 16th century through the 19th century, this diocese was divided several times. In chronological order, Taiwan belonged to the dioceses of Nanking (1660), Fukien (1696) and Amoy/Hsiamen (1883).

In 1913, the Apostolic Vicariate of the Island of Formosa (Taiwan) was established, being detached from the Diocese of Amoy. It was renamed Khaosung in 1949. At the present time, the hierarchy consists of:

Taipei/台北 (Metropolitan Archdiocese since 1952, founded 1949)
- Hsinchu/新竹 (Diocese, founded 1961)
- Hwalien/花蓮 (Diocese, founded 1963)
- Kaohsiung/高雄 (Diocese, founded 1913, renamed and upgraded 1949 and 1961)
- Kiayi/嘉義 (Diocese, founded 1952)
- Taichung/台中 (Diocese, founded 1962)
- Tainan/台南 (Diocese, founded 1961)

The current head of the Catholic Church in Taiwan is Archbishop Joseph Cheng Tsai-fa of Taipei, who was appointed in January 2004.

Between 1.5 and 2% of the population belong to the Catholic Church.

In September 1951 the Papal Internuncio to China was expelled to Hong Kong. Since 1952, the Papal internuncio has been stationed in Taiwan (Republic of China). Also, the ROC ambassador to the Holy See has provided the only permanent diplomatic link between China and the Holy See. Attempts to move the Papal nuncio to Beijing has failed, as the Holy See has not accepted demands by the People's Republic of China that it sever its diplomatic links with Taiwan.

The Catholic Church operates one university in Taiwan, the Fu Jen Catholic University.