The Faith was carried for the first time into the Province of Shan-si. Norhter China, by the Jesuit and Franciscan Fathers during the sixteenth century. At first the province was under the jurisdiction of the bishops of Peking; in 1698 it was erected, with the Province of Shen-si, a vicariate Apostolic by Innocent XII. From 1762 to 1838 the two Provinces of Hu-pe and Hu-nan were added to the same vicariate. On 17 June, 1890, the Vicariate Apostolic of Shan-si was divided into two missions: Northern and Southern Shan-si. In 1900 the notorious Yu-Hien ordered a wholesale massacre of misisonaries, both Catholic and Protestant, at T'ai-yuan-fu. Grogorio Grassi, vicar Apostolic, his coadjutor Francisco Fogolla, Fathers Facchini, Saccani, Throdoric Balat, Egide. Brother Andrew Baur, seven Franciscan Sister of Mary, several native priests, and many Christians were massacred. The vicariate Apostolic has 6,000,000 inhabitants. The mission is entrusted to the Franciscan Fathers. The present vicar Apostolic is the Right Rev. Eugene Massi, who resides at T'ai-yuan.

In 1904 the Catholic community numbered: 11 European Franciscan Fathers; 14 native priests ; 14,700 Catholics ; 2500 catechumens. In 1910 there were: 15 European Franciscan Fathers; 16 native priests ; 24 churches ; 154 chapels, 269 stations; 2 seminaries, with 33 students; 150 schools for boys, with 900 pupils; 20 schools for girls, with 200 pupils; 1 asylum for old men, with 118 inmates; 6 orphanages, with 609 inmates; 10 Franciscan Sisters of Mary; 18,200 Catholics ; 7302 catechumens.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online