The diocese of Lashio is a

Roman Catholic 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 let ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

centered at

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

. The diocesan territory covers a land area of 61,266 square kilometers. Philip Lasap Za Hawng (born 1945) is the current bishop of Lashio (from 1998).

History

The mission territory of the Northern Shan State was first

evangelize In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

d around 1869 by MEP Fathers, then directing the Apostolic vicariate of Northern Burma. At a later phase in 1930, the

PIME The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME ( la, Pontificium Institutum pro Missionibus Exteris; it, Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere) is a society of secular priests and lay people who dedicate their lives to missionary activities ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Fathers took over and much expansion was made both east and west of the

Salween River , ''Mae Nam Salawin'' ( , name_etymology = , image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar , map ...

. A two-pronged mission drive was made at that early stage from the two Prefectures of Lashio and

Kengtong th , เชียงตุง , other_name = Kyaingtong , settlement_type = Town , imagesize = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = Myanmar , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

. Under the aegis of the Italian Missionaries, who were joined by a group of zealous diocesan priests, much headway was made. From the very start, a tough little group of Italian Reparation sisters worked alongside the priests. They helped open

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, boarding houses, nurseries and

clinics A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care need ...

Nationalization

The

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

of all mission and also private schools was a terrible blow. The Church lost all of her schools overnight. However, it was also a blessing in disguise. The Religious now turned to direct mission apostolate. 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 R ...

entrusted Lashio to the

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

in 1975, making it a

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

. Monsignor Jocelyn Madden, the Salesian Delegate, was the first Apostolic Prefect. On his early retirement, another Salesian, Monsignor Charles Bo, succeeded him. More development end further expansion took place. In 1989, twin celebrations were held: the golden jubilee of the start of the mission and the reopening of the Wa State Mission (the extensive area east of the Salween River).

Creation of bishopric

In recognition of the work of the Salesians, the Vatican moved fast. On Dec. 16, 1990, Monsignor Charles Bo was appointed the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Lashio. A further landmark was made in 1991, when the new

Catechist Catechesis (; from Greek language, Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of Conversion to Christian ...

Training Center was inaugurated in Lashiogyi. Under the able guidance of the De La Salle Brothers, a two-year special course is given to catechists from all dioceses. In the span of some 20 years, the diocese has ordained new diocesan priests. Bishop Bo also founded a Missionary Congregation of Brothers and Sisters of St. Paul. Its special charism is direct evangelization ''ad gentes''. It started with a few teenage boys and girls in 1990 and is now a flourishing congregation of 49 professed Religious. It is spread out in 13 houses, 10 in Lashio, 2 in Pathein diocese, and 1 in Pyay diocese. Then, Bishop Bo was appointed Bishop of Pathein on May 24, 1996. Bishop Philip Lasap Za Hawng was installed as the new bishop of Lashio diocese on October 4, 1998. On the same solemn occasion, two diocesan priests were ordained for Lashio by Bishop Bo, former prelate of Lashio. Bishop Za Hawng continued to promote the newly founded Missionary Congregation of Brothers and Sisters of St. Paul. However, in 2000, the brothers decided to move to Pathein, where the founder could give close attention to their formation. The sisters remained in the Diocese of Lashio and continue to grow in numbers. Now, there are 70 professed sisters who are in 16 houses—11 in the home diocese of Lashio, three in Pathein, one in Pyay, and one in the Diocese of Myitkyina. In June 2005, the Novitiate of St. Paul Sisters from Lashio started their mission in the Archdiocese of Yangon, according to the wish of the Archbishop of Yangon, the founder of the Association of the Missionary Sisters of St. Paul.

External links

Diocese of Lashio
{{authority control Roman Catholic dioceses in Burma, Lashio Christian organizations established in 1975 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1975 establishments in Burma