The Roman Catholic Diocese of Myitkyina (Lat: ''Dioecesis Myitkyinaensis'') is a

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 ...

of the

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 onc ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Burma 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 C. Wells, Joh ...

. Erected in 1939 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Bhamo, the prefecture was created from territory in the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Burma. In 1961, the Prefecture was elevated to a full diocese, suffragan to the

Archdiocese of Mandalay Archdiocese of Mandalay is located in the central part of Myanmar. It covers about and comprises the southern part of Sagaing Region, almost the whole Mandalay Region and the eastern part of Magwe Region. The archdiocese has the suffragan dioceses ...

. The current bishop is

Francis Daw Tang Francis Daw Tang (born December 19, 1949, in Bum Dum village) is the current Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Myitkyina, in Kachin State, Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions ...

, appointed in 2004. Currently the Diocese manages numerous churches, schools and clinics throughout Kachin State.

Pre-History

Before the Diocese was fully established, the first footprints of Catholicism in

Myitkyina Myitkyina (, ; (Eng; ''mitchinar'') Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ) is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of t ...

were set in 1856, when French Bishop

Paul Bigandet Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

M.E.P. visited the northern region of

. Seventeen years later, in 1873, a trio of priests was dispatched to begin the early works of the Diocese. According to internal historical records, three decades of extreme sicknesses caused by

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

brought the work to a stand-still.Pg. 184, para 1. ''Official Catholic Directory 2016'', The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar, Yangon 2016. Between the years 1873 to 1901, 14 priests either died or returned wrecked in health. The mission was slow to spread throughout Kachin populations in the early 20th century until the arrival of the first

Columban Missionaries The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( la, Societas Sancti Columbani pro Missionibus ad Exteros) (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right foun ...

from Ireland in 1936.

History

With "Divine Providence" re-instated in the architects of Catholicism in Kachin State, evangelization was resumed with "renewed vigour and fresh hopes" and by 1965 and 1966, the diocese was handed over to the local clergy. Throughout the 1960s and to this day, the Diocese of Myitkyina has been bringing gospel and aid to isolated and hazardous locations in Northern Myanmar.

Ordinaries

*Patrizio Usher, S.S.C.M.E. † (7 Jan 1939 Appointed - 1958 Died) *John James Howe, S.S.C.M.E. † (18 Jul 1959 Appointed - 9 Dec 1976 Resigned) *Paul Zingtung Grawng (9 Dec 1976 Appointed - 24 May 2003 Appointed, Archbishop of Mandalay) Grawng is credited as being the first Kachin priest to be ordained as a priest in 1965. *Francis Daw Tang (3 Dec 2004 Appointed - 18 Nov 2020 Resigned)

References

Christian organizations established in 1939 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1939 establishments in Burma {{Asia-RC-diocese-stub

Pre-History

History

Ordinaries

See also

References