The Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon; vi, Tổng giáo phận Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, french: Archidiocèse d'Hô-Chi-Minh-Ville, la, Archidioecesis Metropolitanae Hochiminhopolitana) 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 ...

ecclesiastical territory in the south of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. It is the biggest by population in the country. The renaming of the former Archdiocese of Saigon to the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city was declared on November 23, 1976. It covers an area of . The suffragan dioceses are: * Diocese of Bà Rịa * Diocese of Cần Thơ * Diocese of Đà Lạt * Diocese of Long Xuyên * Diocese of Mỹ Tho * Diocese of Phan Thiết * Diocese of Phú Cường * Diocese of Vĩnh Long * Diocese of Xuân Lộc. Immaculate Conception Cathedral Basilica (''Vương cung thánh đường Chính tòa Đức Mẹ Vô nhiễm Nguyên tội - Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn'') in Ho Chi Minh City has been assigned as the cathedral of the archdiocese. By 2004, the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city had about 602,478 believers (11.0% of the population), 519

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s and 195

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city is a "sister" diocese of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...

(United States) since 2008. The archdiocese ministers often take part in international exchanges and contacts, though with special permission of the Vietnamese authorities. The young Catholics from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city and Archdiocese of Hanoi formed in 2006 an organization for helping children in rural and underdeveloped areas of Vietnam. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City regularly organizes special mass events including the Youth Day in December 2007, which was attended by more than 7 000 young people, who take part in volunteer and charitable activities, and two prayer vigils "God is rich in compassion" in March 2008 with the participation of several thousand faithful. There is a center of social work organized by the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city, which consists of priests, laypeople and members of civil groups. The center is occupied with three main problems: helping street children, activities to reduce HIV/AIDS level and help its victims, social and psychological work with prostitutes to get them off the streets.

Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be one of the main city attractions and one of the most beautiful buildings in all Vietnam. It was built from 1877 to 1880 by the French

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

J. Bourad, has a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

with twin towers and a statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

in the center front.''Images of Notre Dame Cathedral'', by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton University

Ordinaries

Apostolic vicars of Western Cochin

Dominique Lefèbvre Dominique Lefèbvre (1810–1865) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Bishop of Isauropolis ''in partibus infidelium'', and Vicar Apostolic in Vietnam during the 19th century. His two terms of imprisonment in Vietnam ...

, MEP (11 March 1844 – 28 August 1864) *

Jean-Claude Miche Jean-Claude Miche (9 August 1805 – 1 December 1873) was a French missionary and bishop. He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the French Protectorate of Cambodia. Ordained in 1830, Miche entered the seminary of the Paris Fore ...

, MEP (9 September 1864 – 1 December 1873) * Isidore-François-Joseph Colombert, MEP (1 December 1873 – 31 December 1894) * Jean-Marie Dépierre, MEP (12 April 1895 – 17 October 1898) * Lucien-Emile Mossard, MEP (11 February 1899 – 12 February 1920) * Victor-Charles Quinton, MEP (11 February 1920 – 4 October 1924)

Apostolic vicars of Saigon

* Isidore-Marie-Joseph Dumortier, MEP (17 December 1925 – 16 February 1940) * Jean Cassaigne, MEP (20 February 1941 – 20 September 1955) * Simon Hòa Nguyễn Văn Hiền (20 September 1955 – 24 November 1960)

Archbishops of Ho Chi Minh City

From 1960 to 1976, the archbishop was titled ''Archbishop of Saigon''. # Paul Nguyễn Văn Bình (24 November 1960 – 1 July 1995) #* Nicolas Huỳnh Văn Nghi (Apostolic administrator: 1993 – 1 March 1998) #

Phạm Minh Mẫn Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn ( vi, Gioan Baotixia Phạm Minh Mẫn, links=no) (born 5 March 1934) is a cardinal priest and archbishop emeritus of Ho Chi Minh City in the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Born in Cà Mau, Vietnam, Asia, Mẫ ...

(1 March 1998 – 22 March 2014) # Paul Bùi Văn Đọc (22 March 2014 – 6 March 2018) #* Joseph Đỗ Mạnh Hùng (Apostolic administrator: 8 March 2018 – 19 October 2019) # Joseph Nguyễn Năng (19 October 2019 – )

References

External links

* * {{authority control Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City