Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Lang Són et Cao Bang

Langsonen(sis) et Caobangen(sis)

Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Lang Són et Cao Bang, Vietnam

The Latin rite Diocese of Lang Son and Cao Bang in far northern Vietnam was erected as an Apostolic Prefecture on 31 December 1913, raised to an Apostolic Vicariate in 1939, and became a diocese on 24 November 1960. A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Hanoi, it covers Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces and has one of Vietnam's smallest Catholic populations. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Dominic (Cua Nam) in Lang Son.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
24 November 1960
Latin
Langsonen(sis) et Caobangen(sis)
Patron
Saint Dominic
Annuario code
001001947

The see in figures

Catholics
6,450
Population
1,850,000
Catholic share
0.3%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
28
Catholics per priest
230
Extent
18,359 km²
Catholics per km²
0.4

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri
Born
12 September 1956
Birthplace
Phuoc Am

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of Saint Dominic (Cua Nam), Lang Son stands in Lang Són et Cao Bang, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Hanoi

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Hanoi.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Serving northern Vietnam's Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng provinces, the diocese of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng (Latin: Dioecesis Langsonensis et Caobangensis) was declared in its present form on 24 November 1960 and covers 17,815 km2 as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Hanoi. By 2004 it counted 6,078 believers (0.5% of the population), 4 priests, and 11 parishes; Saint Dominic Cathedral in Lạng Sơn serves as its cathedral. Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri (vn) was appointed bishop in 2016. In June 2007 fifty deacons were officially ordained in Lạng Sơn.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].