HAIPHONG, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE. — On 13 December 1924, the former designation of Eastern Tonkin was changed to the present one. Located in north-eastern Tonkin, it comprises the civil provinces of Haiduong, Kien-An, Quang-Yen, and Haininh or Moncay. The city of H., which is the port of all Tonkin, lies within the territory of Kien-An province.
Almost all the inhabitants of this vicariate are of Annamite stock, which probably traces its origin to the tribe called Giao-Chi, descended from the mountains of Tibet and settled in northern Tonkin in the fourth or fifth century B.C. There are also other peoples called Tho and Man, who inhabit the mountainous part of the mission and migrated there from the Celestial Empire. The Annamites, as well as the Tho and Man, worship heaven and invisible spirits, especially heroes and the souls of their ancestors. The religious history of this mission began in 1627 with the arrival of Fr. Alessandro de Rhodes, a Frenchman, and Fr. Antonio Márquez, a Portuguese. Subsequently, despite almost uninterrupted persecutions, missionaries were never lacking in this region, and conversions were numerous. From 1862 to the present, the mission has been able to prosper peacefully. It has an area of 10,000 sq. km. and a population of 1,700,000, of whom 1,600,000 are pagans, 100 Jews, and 200 Protestants. There are 125,566 Catholics and 3,236 catechumens. There are 86 Annamite priests and 23 foreign priests; 8 indigenous brothers and 4 foreign brothers; 154 indigenous nuns and 11 foreign nuns; 434 catechists; 45 minor and 14 major seminarians; 13 districts; 55 principal stations and 490 secondary stations; 233 churches and 300 chapels; 668 male teachers and 561 female teachers; 114 elementary schools with 3,452 male pupils and 727 female pupils; a school for catechists with 27 pupils; 7 hospitals with 722 beds; 15 orphanages with 3,228 orphans; two homes for the elderly with 452 residents; and a printing press, which publishes a periodical entitled Hy-Vong, with a circulation of 1,200 copies. The mission is entrusted to the Dominicans of the Province of the Most Holy Rosary in the Philippine Islands. The residence of the Ordinary is in the city of H.