Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City

The Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon; Vietnamese: Tổng giáo phận Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, French: Archidiocèse d'Hô-Chi-Minh-Ville, Latin: Archidioecesis Hochiminhopolitana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the South of Vietnam. It is the biggest by population in the country.

Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city

Archidioecesis Hochiminhopolitana

Tổng Giáo phận Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh
Archidiocèse d'Hô-Chi-Minh-Ville
Location
Country Vietnam
MetropolitanHo Chi Minh city
Deaneries14
Statistics
Area2,093 km2 (808 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2014)
7,395,078
683,988 (9.2%)
Parishes200
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
CathedralCathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Patron saintImmaculate Conception
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Metropolitan ArchbishopJoseph Nguyễn Năng
Auxiliary BishopsLouis Nguyên Anh Tuan
Bishops emeritusPhạm Minh Mẫn
Website
tgpsaigon.net

The renaming former Archdiocese of Saigon to Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city was declared November 23, 1976. It covers an area of 2,390 km². The suffragan dioceses are:

Immaculate Conception Cathedral Basilica (Vương cung thánh đường Chính tòa Đức Mẹ Vô nhiễm Nguyên tội - Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn) in Ho Chi Minh City has been assigned as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese.[1]

By 2004, Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city had about 602,478 believers (11.0% of the population), 519 priests and 195 parishes.[2]

The Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city is a "sister" diocese of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles (USA) since 2008.[3]

The Archdiocese ministers often take part in international exchanges and contacts, though with special permission of the Vietnamese authorities.

The young Catholics from the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city and Archdiocese of Hanoi formed in 2006 an organization for helping children in rural and underdeveloped areas of Vietnam.[4] The Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City regularly organizes special mass events including the Youth Day in December 2007, which was attended by more than 7 000 young people, who take part in volunteer and charitable activities,[5] and two prayer vigils "God is rich in compassion" in March 2008 with the participation of several thousand faithful.[6]

There is a center of social work organized by the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city, which consists of priests, laypeople and members of civil groups. The center is occupied with three main problems: helping street children, activities to reduce HIV/AIDS level and help its victims, social and psychological work with prostitutes to get them off the streets.[7]

Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be one of the main city attractions and one of the most beautiful buildings in all Vietnam. It was built in 1877 - 1880 by the French architect J. Bourad, has a Neo-Romanesque facade with twin towers and a statue of the Virgin Mary in the center front.[8]

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicars of Western Cochin
  • Dominique Lefèbvre, MEP (11 March 1844 – 28 August 1864)
  • Jean-Claude Miche, MEP (9 September 1864 – 1 December 1873)
  • Isidore-François-Joseph Colombert, MEP (1 December 1873 – 31 December 1894)
  • Jean-Marie Dépierre, MEP (12 April 1895 – 17 October 1898)
  • Lucien-Emile Mossard, MEP (11 February 1899 – 12 February 1920)
  • Victor-Charles Quinton, MEP (11 February 1920 – 4 October 1924)

Apostolic Vicars of Saigon
  • Isidore-Marie-Joseph Dumortier, MEP (17 December 1925 – 16 February 1940)
  • Jean Cassaigne, MEP (20 February 1941 – 20 September 1955)
  • Simon Hòa Nguyễn Văn Hiền (20 September 1955 – 24 November 1960)

Archbishops of Ho Chi Minh City

From 1960 to 1976, the archbishop was titled Archbishop of Saigon.

  1. Paul Nguyễn Văn Bình (24 November 1960 – 1 July 1995)
  2. Phạm Minh Mẫn (1 March 1998 – 22 March 2014)
  3. Paul Bùi Văn Đọc (22 March 2014 – 6 March 2018)
    • Joseph Đỗ Mạnh Hùng (Apostolic administrator: 8 March 2018 – 19 October 2019)
  4. Joseph Nguyễn Năng (19 October 2019 – )

See also

References
  1. GCatholic.org
  2. Catholic Hierarchy Directory
  3. LA Times, August 2008
  4. "Catholic youth accompany abandoned children", May 2006, in Asia News
  5. "More than 7,000 young people take part in Saigon diocese's Youth day", Asia News on Vietnam, December 2007
  6. "More than 7 thousand faithful gather to reflect on God's compassion", Asia News, March 2008
  7. "Ho Chi Minh City, Catholics at work against AIDS and prostitution", Asia News, February 2008
  8. Images of Notre Dame Cathedral, by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton University

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