Apostolic Nunciature to China

Efforts by both the Catholic Church and the Chinese government to establish direct contact began in the late Qing Dynasty. Direct contact would break the restrictions from the Protectorate of missions of France. The Catholic Church responded to a request by Li Hongzhang of the Qing Empire on 3 May 1870, and established diplomatic ties. The church sent Archbishop Antonio Agliardi to China in early August as plenipotentiary with regard to diplomatic affairs. In July 1918, the Holy See and the Beiyang Government of the Republic of China agreed to send Giuseppe Petrelli and Dai Chenlin as their respective diplomats. However, this did not succeed due to objections from France.

Relations between the Republic of China and the Holy See strengthened in 1922 when Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini was appointed as an Apostolic Delegate to China, although he had no diplomatic status. Official diplomatic ties were established in 1946 when Antonio Riberi assumed office as Apostolic Internuncio to China.

In 1951 Riberi left mainland China following the relocation of the Government of the Republic of China to Taiwan. In 1966 the Apostolic Internunciature in China was upgraded to an Apostolic Nunciature. Since then, the Apostolic Nunciature to China sits at Taipei, Taiwan. Giuseppe Caprio became the first Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to China.

On 25 October 1971 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the People's Republic of China as sole representative of China, and the Holy See recalled the Apostolic Nuncio. Since that time, diplomatic affairs have been administered by chargés d'affaires. [1]

 

1922 - 1933 Apost. Delegate Celso Costantini

1934 - 1946 Apost. Delegate Mario Zanin

1946 - 1959 Apost. Internuncio Antonio Riberi

1959 - 1966 Apost. Internuncio Giuseppe Caprio

1966 - 1967 Apost. Pro-Nuncio Giuseppe Caprio

1967 - 1970 Apost. Pro-Nuncio Luigi Accogli

1970 - 1979 Apost. Pro-Nuncio Edward Idris Cassidy

1978 - 1986 Chargés d'affaires Paolo Giglio

1986 - 1988 Chargés d'affaires Piero Biggio

1988 - 1992 Chargés d'affaires Adriano Bernardini

1992 - 1995 Chargés d'affaires Juliusz Janusz

1995 - 1999 Chargés d'affaires Joseph Chennoth

1999 - 2001 Chargés d'affaires Adolfo Tito Yllana

2002 - 2003 Chargés d'affaires James Patrick Green

2003 - 2008 Chargés d'affaires Ambrose Madtha

2008 - 2016 Chargés d'affaires Paul Fitzpatrick Russell

2016 - 2019 Chargés d'affaires Sladan Ćosić

2019 - 2021 Chargés d'affaires Arnaldo Catalan

2022-2022   Chargés d'affaires "ad interim" Stefano Mazzotti

2022 -          Chargés d'affaires Stefano Mazzotti

 

 

[1] Source: wikipedia