Ming dynasty

The Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci introduced Catholicism into Jiangsu in 1599. He stayed in Suzhou in January of that year. In 1616, Giulio Aleni founded a church in Changshu, which is currently a city in the Suzhou Diocese.^[2][3]

Qing dynasty

In Suzhou city, Italian missionaries established the first Catholic church in 1649. By 1664, there were over 500 Catholics in Suzhou city and over 10,000 Catholics in Changshu.^[3]

In 1724, the Yongzheng Emperor proscribed Catholicism in China.^[4] His son, the Qianlong Emperor, continued the practice.^[5] In 1814, the Jiaqing Emperor further codified the prohibition of general Christianity.^[6] The Daoguang Emperor rescinded most anti-Christian edicts in 1844.^[5]

In 1853, the Mission sui iuris of Suzhou was established. It later became a deanery under the Jiangnan Apostolic Prefecture in 1855.^[3]

Republic of China

In 1922, the Deanery of Suzhou was included under the newly established Jiangsu Apostolic Prefecture, which changed its name to Nanjing Apostolic Prefecture in 1926.^[7] The Shanghai Apostolic Prefecture, which contained the Suzhou Deanery, was separated from the Nanjing Prefecture in 1933, and became a diocese in 1946.^[7] The Suzhou Deanery was elevated into a diocese and separated from the Shanghai Diocese on 9 June 1949.^[8][9][3]

People's Republic of China

Upon the founding of the PRC, there were about 34 clergy members and 31,350 Catholics in the diocese.^[3] During the Cultural Revolution, many historical churches of the diocese were damaged. Church activities gradually resumed in the 1980s.^[1] In 1992, there were about 8 priests, 18 nuns, and 50,000 Catholics in the diocese.^[3]

Catholic Patriotic Association

Ignatius Shen Chuming (Chinese: 沈初鸣) became the vicar general of Suzhou in 1956. He was elected bishop in 1958 and consecrated in 1959. He was a standing member of the national Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) of China. The year of his death is uncertain: according to Catholic-Hierarchy.org, he died in 1966; according to the Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of Jiangsu (Chinese: 江苏省民族宗教事务委员会), he died in 1974.^[17][2]

Matthias Ma Longlin (Chinese: 马龙麟) was elected and consecrated bishop in 1981. He later became the chair of the CPA of Suzhou. He died in 1999.^[2]

In 1999, the CPA appointed Joseph Xu Honggen (Chinese: 徐宏根) as the bishop of Suzhou, and he later also received the appointment from the Holy See. In 2006, Xu was officially consecrated Bishop at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, Suzhou.^[18] In 2016, Pope Francis met Bishop Xu in Vatican City, making Xu the first ever mainland Chinese bishop to meet the Pope.^[19][20]