Roman Catholic Diocese of Đà Lạt

The Diocese of Đà Lat (Latin: Dioecesis Dalatensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese of Vietnam, headquartered in the southern city of Da Lat, Lâm Đồng Province.

The diocese had become a vacant see (sede vacante) on the appointment of Archbishop Pierre Nguyễn Văn Nhơn as Coadjutor Archbishop - auxiliary, or assistant, bishop with the right of automatic succession - of the Archdiocese of Hanoi (he became the Archbishop there). On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI, named Bishop Antoine Vũ Huy Chương, 66, who had until then been the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hưng Hóa (which is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Hanoi), as Bishop of the Đà Lat Diocese. More than 20% of the one million people living in the Diocese of Da Lat are Roman Catholics, and many belong to ethnic minorities. The Đà Lat Diocese has 326,120 Catholics served by 181 priests and 1,093 religious.

The diocese covers an area of 10,172 km² of southern Vietnam, and is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City. It was created on November 24, 1960. In 1967 part of it was split off and became part of the Diocese of Ban Mê Thuôt.

Bishops of Đà Lat

• Bishop Simon Hoà Nguyễn Văn Hiền (24 Nov 1960 – 5 Sep 1973)
• Bishop Barthélémy Nguyễn Sơn Lâm, P.S.S. (30 Jan 1975 – 23 Mar 1994)
• Bishop Pierre Nguyễn Văn Nhơn (23 Mar 1994 – 22 Apr 2010); currently Archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam
• Bishop Antoine Vũ Huy Chương (1 Mar 2011 – present); had been Bishop of Hưng Hóa, Vietnam

External links

• General Information on the diocese

Coordinates: 11°56′11″N 108°26′15″E / 11.9365°N 108.4376°E / 11.9365; 108.4376