Ignatius C. Wang

Ignatius Chung Wang (born February 27, 1934) is a Chinese American Catholic prelate who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in California from 2002 to 2009. Wang is the first Asian-American and Chinese-American to be appointed as a Catholic bishop.

Biography

Early life Chung Wang was born in Beijing in what was then the Republic of China on February 27, 1934. He attended Catholic schools in the former British Colony of Hong Kong, then started his studies for the priesthood at the Regional Seminary for South China in Hong Kong. However, the People's Republic of China refused to allow Wang to serve as a priest in Kienow.

In 1962, Wang began studies in Rome, receiving a Doctor of Canon Law degree. His first assignment was as a parish priest and vicar general of the Diocese of Saint George's in Grenada.

On May 16, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI received Wang's letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of San Francisco, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops.