Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi

Archdiocese of Hanoi
Archidioecesis Hanoiensis
Tổng Giáo Phận Hà Nội

Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hanoi
Location
Country Vietnam
Ecclesiastical province Province of Hanoi
Metropolitan Hanoi
Statistics
Area 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2013)
5,620,000
346,000 (6.2%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Roman Rite
Cathedral Saint Joseph Cathedral (Hanoi)
Patron saint Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop Pierre Nguyễn Văn Nhơn
Auxiliary Bishops Lorence Chu Văn Minh
Emeritus Bishops Ngo Quang Kiet Archbishop Emeritus (2005-2010)
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Hanoi (Latin: Archidioecesis Hanoiensis) is a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vietnam. It is one of the earliest in the history of Roman Catholicism in Vietnam.

The creation of the diocese in present form was declared November 24, 1960. It covers an area of 7,000 km² and headed by Cardinal Pierre Nguyễn Văn Nhơn (from 2010).

Suffragans

The suffragan dioceses are:

Cathedral

Saint Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi has been assigned as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese.[1] The Cathedral was built in 1886 in neo-Gothic style. It holds several masses throughout the day and is usually crowded on weekends and religious holidays. Christmas holiday in 2004 attracted more than 4,000 visitors to the Cathedral.

Current state

By 2004, Archdiocese of Hanoi had about 282,886 believers (5.3% of the population), 59 priests and 132 parishes.[2]

The Archdiocese of Hanoi is a "sister" diocese of Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County (USA) since 2008.[3]

The young Catholics from the Archdiocese of Hanoi and Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city formed in 2006 an organization for helping children in rural and underdeveloped areas of Vietnam.[4]

In November, 2006, the Cua Bac Catholic Church in Hanoi became the venue of joint worship service of the Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants with participation of the United States President George W. Bush, who was on an official visit to Vietnam. Cua Bac Church (Northern Gate Church) has regular sermons and services in English language and is often visited by expats and tourists.

In December 2007, thousands of Vietnamese Catholics marched in procession to the former apostolic nunciature in Hanoi (confiscated by the communist government in 1959) and prayed there twice aiming to return the property to the local Church. Despite their initial promise to return the nunciature building to Roman Catholic community, the authorities changed their position in September 2008 and decided to demolish the building to create a public park.[5] The protests of Catholic community were not taken into account.

It is purported that Archbishop Emeritus Ngo Quang Kiet was pressured to retire by government officials. Archbishop Kiet denied this, saying his retirement was due to stress and insomnia. His retirement was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on May 10, 2010 and he was succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Nguyên Van Nhon.

Ordinaries

Vicariate Apostolic of Tonking

Vicariate Apostolic of Western Tonking

Name changed 24 July 1678[6]

Vicariate Apostolic of Hà Nôi

Name changed 3 December 1924[6]

Archdiocese of Hanoi

Elevated 24 November 1960[6]

References

Catholic Tonkinese (Joseph Lai) with his wife (1885)
  1. ↑ GCatholic.org
  2. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy Directory
  3. ↑ LA Times, August, 2008
  4. ↑ Catholic youth accompany abandoned children, May 2006, in Asia News
  5. ↑ In Hanoi, stance of repression against Catholics seems to have won, Asianews, September 2008
  6. 1 2 3 Catholic Hierarchy: "Archdiocese of Hà Nôi" retrieved November 8, 2015

Coordinates: 21°02′00″N 105°51′00″E / 21.0333°N 105.8500°E / 21.0333; 105.8500

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