Bac Ninh, Apostolic Vicariate of

BAC NINH, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - On June 1, 1883, the vicariate of Northern Tonkin was detached from the apostolic vicariate of Eastern Tonkin and entrusted to the Dominican province of the Philippines; in 1924 it took the name of B. It was divided in 1913 for the creation of the apostolic prefecture, now vicariate, of Langson and Caobang.

Area of the territory, situated in the torrid zone near the Tropic of Cancer: 24,700 sq. km.; total population (approximate estimate 1942): 1,200,000 inhabitants, mostly Annamites, about 60,000 of Tho or Thai stock, about 25,000 Man, in the mountainous region. Catholics 58,728, almost all Annamites, with 730 catechumens; about thirty Protestants, and 1,140,000 pagan inhabitants. The 46 primary and 428 secondary stations are entrusted to 67 Annamite secular priests and 12 Dominicans, assisted by 6 foreign sisters and 201 Indochinese; there are 131 catechists and 347 teachers. Works of the mission: a minor seminary with 22 students, and 59 philosophers and theologians studying outside the mission; "Domus Dei," for candidates for the seminary and for catechists, 32 dispensaries, 20 orphanages, a home for the aged and a leprosarium, 1 hospital. Evangelization proceeds slowly (annual average of 300 adult baptisms), both because of the small number of personnel and because the people are caught up in concerns of a material order. World War II has created new obstacles.

Giuseppe Monticone