Diocese of Chanthaburi
| Diocese of Chanthaburi | |
 |
|
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Country | Thailand |
| Metropolitan bishopric | Archdiocese of Bangkok |
| Diocesan bishop | Silvio Siripong Charatsri |
| Emeritus diocesan bishop | Lawrence Thienchai Samanchit |
| Vicar General | Michael Vira Phangrak |
| founding | 1944 |
| surface | 34,000 km² |
| Parishes | 40 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Residents | 4,903,106 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Catholics | 45,831 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| proportion of | 0.9% |
| Diocesan priest | 79 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Religious priest | 17 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Catholics per priest | 477 |
| Friars | 148 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Religious sisters | 157 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| rite | Roman rite |
| Liturgical language | Thai |
| cathedral | Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception |
| address | Chanthaburi Diocesan Center 21/3, M.1 Tambol Surasach Sriracha Chonburi 20110 Thailand |
| Website | http://www.chandiocese.org/ |
The diocese of Chanthaburi ( Latin : Dioecesis Chanthaburiensis , Thai: สังฆมณฑล จันทบุรี ) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Thailand .
The diocese covers an area of 34,000 km², which includes the provinces of Chanthaburi , Chonburi , Prachinburi , Rayong , Sa Kaeo and Trat as well as the part east of the Maenam Bang Pakong (Bang Pakong River) of the province of Chachoengsao and most of the province of Nakhon Nayok . As of 2001, 31,384 of the 4.1 million inhabitants were Catholic. The diocese is divided into 41 parishes and has a total of 88 priests. The diocese is subordinate to the Archdiocese of Bangkok as a suffragan .
history
The diocese goes back to the Apostolic Vicariate Chanthaburi, which was split off on May 11, 1944 from the Apostolic Vicariate Bangkok. On December 18, 1965, it was elevated to a diocese.
cathedral
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Thai: อาสน วิหาร พระนาง มา รี อา ปฏิสนธิ นิรมล ) in Chanthaburi is the largest church in Thailand. A first mission chapel was built there in 1711. In the following period it was expanded four times, in particular because of the growing number of Vietnamese Catholics in the city who had fled here because of religious persecution. In 1909 the current Gothic church on the left bank of the Chanthaburi River was completed. The roof of the church was removed during World War II to make the building less suspicious and to protect it from Allied air raids.
Bishops
Before the elevation to the diocese, the Apostolic Vicars were titular bishops .
- Giacomo Luigi Cheng , May 11, 1944-14. April 1952
- Francis Xavier Sanguon Souvannasri , January 8, 1953-3. April 1970
- Lawrence Thienchai Samanchit , July 3, 1971–4. April 2009
- Silvio Siripong Charatsri , since April 4, 2009
See also
Web links
- Official Website (Thai)
- Entry on the Diocese of Chanthaburi on catholic-hierarchy.org (English)