The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is an association of

episcopal conferences Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. The federation fosters solidarity and joint responsibility for the welfare of the Church and of society in the region. The conference includes sixteen (or nineteen) Bishops' Conferences from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(both the CBCI and the individual conferences of the Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Roman Rites),

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

–

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(RoC),

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and collective Bishops' Conference of Central Asia. Associate members are from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

(Russia). Founded in 1970, the FABC was due to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020, but the celebration was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the 50th anniversary of the FABC was celebrated at Baan Phu Wan Pastoral Center, Archdiocese of Bangkok, Thailand, on October 12, 2022.

Member Bishops' Conferences

Source:

FABC-FederationAsianBishopsConferences-Map

Full members

* Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh *

Catholic Bishops' Conference of India The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) is the permanent association of the Catholic Church, Catholic Bishop (Catholic Church), bishops of India. It was established in September 1944, in Chennai. The CBCI Secretariat was located in Ban ...

** Conference of Catholic Bishops of India ** Syro-Malabar Bishops' Synod ** Holy Episcopal Synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church *

Bishops' Conference of Indonesia The Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (BCI; , KWI) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Indonesia. It was constituted in November 1955, in Surabaya as the Supreme Council of Indonesian Bishops (). KWI is a part of the Federation o ...

* Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan * Bishops' Conference of Central Asia *

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...

* Catholic Bishops' Conference of Laos and Cambodia * Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei * Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar * Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan *

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (abbreviated as CBCP) is the permanent organizational assembly of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines exercising together certain pastoral offices for the Christian faithful of their terr ...

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka is the episcopal conference of Sri Lanka. As of June 2022 the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka is Bishop Harold Anthony Perera, the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurunega ...

* Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan * Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand * Episcopal Conference of Timor-Leste * Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam *Episcopal Conference of China *Episcopal Conference of Nepal *Episcopal Conference of Mongolia

Associate members

* Diocese of Hong Kong *

Diocese of Macau The Diocese of Macau (; ) is a Latin Church exempt ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church, in contrast with the Diocese of Hong Kong, which is, ''de jure'', part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Guangdong. The territory o ...

Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar The Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar () is a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic prefecture (pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction) located in Mongolia, with its territory consisting of the entire country. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathe ...

(

) * Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal

Former members

* Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan (until 2022)

Presidents

*Cardinal

Stephen Kim Sou-hwan Stephen (often rendered as Latin Stephanus) Kim Sou-hwan (; May 8, 1922 – February 16, 2009) was a Korean prelate of the Catholic Church and the Korea's first elevated to the rank of cardinal. He is a former archbishop of Seoul, South Korea. ...

, Archbishop of Seoul, South Korea (1973 – 1977) * Mariano Gaviola y Garcés, Archbishop of Lipa, Philippines (1977–1984) * Henry Sebastian D'Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta, India (1984–1993) * Oscar Cruz, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Philippines (1993–2000) * Oswald Gomis, Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka (2000–2005) *Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, Archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines (2005 – 2011) *Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India (2011 – 2018) *Cardinal

Charles Maung Bo Charles Maung Bo (, ; born 29 October 1948) is a Burmese Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Yangon since 7 June 2003. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015. Early life and education Bo was born on 29 October 1948, in ...

, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar (2019 - 2023) * Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão,

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman (, , ) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan region, by the west coast of India. The ecclesiastical province of Goa and Damaon includes a suffragan diocese ...

(2024-2025)

Asian Youth Day

Asian Youth Day was started in 1999 under the auspices of the federation.
AYD 1 - 1999, Hua Hin, Thailand, “Asian Youth Journeying with Jesus Towards the Third Millenium”
AYD 2 - 2001, Taipei, Taiwan, “We are Called to Sanctity and Solidarity”
AYD 3 - 2003, Bangalore, India, “Asian Youth for Peace”
AYD 4 - 2006, Hong Kong, “Youth, Hope of Asian Families”
AYD 5 - 2009, Imus, Philippines, “YAsia Fiesta! Young Asians: Come Together, Share the Word, Live the Eucharist”
AYD 6 - 2014, Daejeon, Korea, “Asian Youth, Wake Up! The Glory of the Martyrs Shines on You”
AYD 7 - 2017, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, “Joyful Asian Youth! Living the Gospel in Multicultural Asia”

Member Bishops' Conferences

Full members

Associate members

Former members

Presidents

Asian Youth Day

See also

References

Further reading