Roman Catholic Diocese of Thái Bình

The diocese of Thai Binh (Latin: Dioecesis de Thai Binh) is a Roman Catholic diocese in northern Vietnam. The bishop is François Xavier Nguyên Van Sang, since 1990. On July 25, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI selected Monsignor Pierre Nguyen Van De to be bishop upon Nguyên Van Sang's retirement.

Diocese of Thái Binh Dioecesis de Thai Binh Giáo phận Thái Bình
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Location
Country	Vietnam
Ecclesiastical province	Hanoi
Metropolitan	Hanoi
Statistics
Area	2,301 km^2 (888 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 3,250,000 133,043 (4.1%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Thái Bình
Patron saint	Sacred Heart
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Pierre Nguyên Văn Dê
Metropolitan Archbishop	Joseph Vũ Văn Thiên
Website
Website of the Diocese

The creation of the diocese in present form was declared November 24, 1960.

The diocese covers an area of 2,200 km², and is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Hanoi.

By 2004, the diocese of Thai Binh had about 116,399 believers (4.1% of the population), 42 priests and 64 parishes.[1]

Sacred Heart Cathedral in Thai Binh town has been assigned as the Cathedral of the diocese.[2]

In May, 2008, the authorities returned the two-building compound of build in 1936 My Duc seminary to the diocese. The seminary, which now bears the name of the Sacred Heart, provides education for 33 Roman Catholic students.[3]

References

1. Catholic Hierarchy Directory
2. GCatholic.org
3. "After 31 years Thai Binh seminary to reopen", Asia News, July 2008.