- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city
"Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Ho Chi Minh city" (former
Saigon ) (Latin, "Archidioecesis Hochiminhopolitanus") is aRoman Catholic Archdiocese in the South ofVietnam . It is the biggest by population in the country.The renaming former Archdiocese of Saigon to Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city was decalared
November 23 ,1976 . It covers an area of 2,390 km² and headed by Cardinal-Priest ofSaint Giustino ,Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn (from1998 ), who was previously a coadjutor bishop ofMy Tho .The suffragan dioceses are:
*Diocese of Ba Ria
*Diocese of Cân Tho
*Diocese of Da Lat
*Diocese of Long Xuyên
*Diocese of My Tho
*Diocese of Phan Thiet
*Diocese of Phu Cuong
*Diocese of Vinh Long
*Diocese of Xuan Loc .Immaculate Conception Cathedral Basilica inHo Chi Minh City has been assigned as the Cathedral of theArchdiocese . [ [http://www.gcatholic.com/churches/data/cathVN.htm#chk Giga Catholic Information] ]By
2004 , Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city had about 602,478 believers (11.0% of the population), 519priest s and 195parish es. [ [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dthan.html Catholic Hierarchy Directory] ]The Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city is a "sister" diocese of
Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles (USA) since 2008 [ [http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-archbishop24-2008aug24,0,4770456.story LA Times, August, 2008] ] .The Archdiocese ministers often take part in international exchanges and contacts, though with special permission of the Vietnamese authorities. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118444287.html National Catholic Reporter, June 2004] ]
The young catholics from the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city and
Archdiocese of Hanoi formed in2006 an organization for helping children in rural and underdeveloped areas of Vietnam. [ [http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=6187 Catholic youth accompany abandoned children, May 2006, in Asia News] ] 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 [ [http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10959&size=A Asia News on Vietnam, December 2007] ] , and two prayer vigils "God is rich in compassion" in March 2008 with the participation of several thousand faithful [ [http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11877&size=A More than 7 thousand faithful gather to reflect on God's compassion, AsiaNews] ] .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 [ [http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11602&size=A Ho Chi Minh City, Catholics at work against AIDS and prostitution] ] .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 Frencharchitect J. Bourad, has aNeo-Romanesque facade with twin towers and a statue of theVirgin Mary in the center front. [ [http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/vietnam/hcmc/notredame/notredame.html Images of Notre Dame Cathedral] ]See also
*
Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica
*Roman Catholicism in Vietnam References
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