{{short description, None The Catholic Church in Laos and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, both former French colonies in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

(

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

), consists solely of an entirely missionary Latin hierarchy, which is joined in a single

Episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

of Laos and Cambodia (French acronym CELAC). There are only pre-diocesan jurisdictions (all exempt, i.e. not part of an

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

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 R ...

and its missionary Roman Congregation Propaganda Fide), no single proper see yet : * five Apostolic Vicariates, in Laos except one in Cambodia - only they are 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 a ...

* two

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although i ...

s, both in Cambodia. There are no

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

s in either country. All defunct jurisdictions have current successors. Formally, there is an Apostolic Nunciature (embassy-level) to Cambodia and an

Apostolic Delegation An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

(lower level) to Laos, as papal diplomatic representations in both countries, ''but these offices are vested (like the Apostolic Delegation to

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 ...

) in the Apostolic Nuncio to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

(in its capital

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

)''.

Current (Latin, exempt) jurisdictions in Cambodia

* Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh *

Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang The Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang is a territorial subdivision of the Roman Catholic Church in Cambodia. The prefecture covers an area of 80,430 km² of north-western Cambodia, covering the provinces of Banteay Meanchey Province, Bantea ...

* Apostolic Prefecture of Kompong Cham

Current (Latin, exempt) jurisdictions in Laos

* Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang * Apostolic Vicariate of Pakse *

Apostolic Vicariate of Savannakhet The Apostolic Vicariate of Savannakhet ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Savannakhetensis) is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Laos. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a titular bishop. It is ...

Apostolic Vicariate 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 ...

Sources and references

GCatholic - CELAC

Laos and Cambodia Roman Catholic dioceses in Cambodia Roman Catholic dioceses in Laos Catholic dioceses Catholic dioceses