Tianjin diocese has begun a year-long series of special celebrations marking 100 years of a permanent Catholic presence in the northern Chinese city. The opening Mass took place at the Charity Mansion, one of the oldest Catholic buildings in Tianjin. During the Holy Mass, the founding of the Apostolic Vicariate of Coastal Chi-Li in 1912 was commemorated. The Vicariate was renamed Tianjin in 1924. It was later elevated to a diocese in 1946 when the Holy See established the Church hierarchy in China.
In 1866, when Catholicism was first introduced to Tianjin, nuns from the French Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul order opened the Charity Mansion to serve the sick and orphans. 10 nuns were killed here by an anti-Catholic crowd during the Tianjin Massacre in 1870. The diocese, which covers Tianjin municipality, has two bishops, around 40 priests and more than 100,000 Catholics.
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