Parishes 199 Rite Roman Rite Area 2,390 km² Emeritus bishop Phạm Minh Mẫn | Sui iuris church Latin Church Pope Francis Country Vietnam Metropolitan archbishop Paul Bùi Văn Đọc | |
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Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2010)
6,780,217
671,229 (9.9%) Emeritus Bishops Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn Cathedral Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica | ||
The Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon; Latin: Archidioecesis Hochiminhopolitana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the South of Vietnam. It is the biggest by population in the country.
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.
By 2004, Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city had about 602,478 believers (11.0% of the population), 519 priests and 195 parishes.
The Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city is a "sister" diocese of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles (USA) since 2008.
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. 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, and two prayer vigils "God is rich in compassion" in March 2008 with the participation of several thousand faithful.
There is a center of social work organized by the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city, which consists of priests, laypeople and members of sivil 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.
Notre Dame 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.