Conférence / L’ordination des premiers évêques chinois de l’époque contemporaine par Pie XI

On 28 October 1926, Pius XI consecrated in Rome the first six Chinese bishops of the contemporary era. At the intersection of the orientations of the apostolic letter Maximum illud (1919), the Council of Shanghai (1924) and the encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae (1926), this event marks a major turning point in the history of missions. On the occasion of its centenary, this conference will analyse its missionary and ecclesiological significance for the emergence of a Chinese hierarchy. What were the religious and diplomatic stakes of these consecrations, at a time when Catholic missions in China remained tied to the French religious protectorate? How were they received in China and in missionary circles? In what ways did they demonstrate the Holy See's will to promote a local Chinese Church?