Pope Leo XIV creates ‘new’ China diocese amid diocesan border dispute with Beijing

Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Pope Leo XIV has created a new Catholic diocese in northern China with the same name as one established decades ago by Beijing without Vatican approval, underscoring ongoing tensions over how China has redrawn Catholic diocesan borders independently of Rome. The Vatican announced Wednesday that the pope has suppressed two historic dioceses of Xiwanzi and Xuanhua — both erected in 1946 by Pope Pius XII — and replaced them with the Diocese of Zhangjiakou.