The Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Luangensis Prabangensis) is a

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

jurisdiction of the

Catholic Church in Laos The Catholic Church in Laos is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The Catholic Church is officially recognized by the government.US State Dept 202Laos: International Religious Freedom Report ...

. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

. It is located in northern

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. It is exempt, i.e. not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

but directly dependent on the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and its missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. It currently has no cathedral since its former

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

, in Luang Prabang, has been secularized. The vicariate has been vacant since 1975, entrusted to a series of temporary

Apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Statistics

The vicariate covers 80,425 km² in the northern Laotian civic provinces of

Luang Prabang Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...

, Xaignabouli, Oudomxai,

Phongsali Phongsali or Phongsaly ( lo, ຜົ້ງສາລີ) is the capital of Phongsaly Province, Laos. It is the northernmost provincial capital in Laos, opposite Attapeu in the south. The town has about 8,000 inhabitants. It lies at approximately 1,4 ...

, Louang Namtha and Bokeo. As of 2014, it pastorally cares for 2,693 Catholics (0.2% of 1,692,000 total) in 8 parishes with one priest and five seminarians.

History

It was established on March 1, 1963 as Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang with territory split off from the

Vicariate Apostolic of Vientiane The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Vientiane ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Vientianensis; ) is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church located in northern Laos. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdict ...

. Since the Communist takeover of Laos in 1975 the Catholic Church in the vicariate of Luang Prabang has been strongly suppressed.

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicars of Luang Prabang

* Lionello Berti,

O.M.I. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

(1963-1968) * Alessandro Staccioli, O.M.I. (1968-1975), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Siena–Colle di Val d’Elsa–Montalcino

Apostolic Administrators

* Thomas Nantha (1975-1984), concurrently Apostolic Vicar of Vientiane * Jean Khamsé Vithavong O.M.I (1984-1999), concurrently Apostolic Vicar of Vientiane * Father Tito Banchong Thopanhong (1999-present)

References

External links

Religious freedom in the Democratic People's Republic of Laos
(PDF document, in German, English and French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luang Prabang, Apostolic Vicariate Apostolic vicariates

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1963