Roman Catholic Diocese of Yongnian
The Diocese of Yongnian/Weixian (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese located in the city of Yongnian, China. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Beijing. The diocese is also named Diocese of Handan/Yongnian (). History. The Catholic Church in Handan was established as an apostolic prefecture on May 24, 1929, by Pope Pius XI. The diocesan territory covered the counties of Yongnian, Jize, Zhuzhou, Weixian, Chengan, Cixian, Handan, Qinghe, Guangping, Feixiang with the cathedral located at Zhaozhuang of Weixian. It became an apostolic vicariate on  March 6, 1933 and was made a diocese on April 11, 1946. The Diocese plans to build a cathedral in Handan, with a total cost of 3.5 million yuan. The construction of the church was approved by the local government in 2013. The church will be designed by the School of Architecture of the Hebei University of Engineering and will be located in the Wulipu Village in the Sucao Township Handan/Yongnian is the fastest-growing diocese in Mainland China after the Diocese of Xingtai. Leadership. There are 85 priests in the diocese.