HANOI, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. — It is located in southwestern Tonkin (Vietnam) and covers an area of 4,600 sq km. From the division of the Apostolic Vicariate of Tonkin in 1678, there arose the two vicariates of Eastern and Western Tonkin, and from the latter was detached, on 17 March 1846, that of Southern Tonkin. Finally, in 1901, the Apostolic Vicariate of Maritime Tonkin was separated from II.
The current name of H. was given on 3 December 1924. It comprises the provinces of Hadong, Hanan or Phily; part of the provinces of Namdinh, Hoabinh, Hungyèn and Sontay. The inhabitants are all Annamese, except those of the mountainous zone who belong to the “Thai” or “Tho” peoples, who speak many dialects and have nothing in common with the Annamese language. There are three religions: Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, but they are only so in name, having been reduced to sects whose doctrine is crass atheism and materialism. Ancestor worship is tenaciously maintained. Some Protestant sects have been transplanted from America and France to the city of H., but with little success in proselytism. At the beginning of the 17th century various missionaries, among them the well-known Alexander de Rhodes, preached the Gospel in Tonkin with great success. Within its territory the first two native Tonkinese priests were ordained in 1668; on 14 February 1670 the Tonkinese Synod was celebrated there. The Christian population includes several martyrs, of whom 28 were beatified in 1900 and 1906. Among them are remembered Blessed Stephen Viénard of the Paris Foreign Missions and Blessed Agnes De. The vicariate of H. has always been entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions Society, but by decree of 18 April 1950 it passed to the native Vietnamese secular clergy.
Out of a population of over 2,200,000 inhabitants, there are 195,070 Catholics, 6,924 catechumens and 2,000,000 pagans. There are 165 native secular priests and 57 foreign priests; 20 native brothers and 13 foreign brothers; 427 native nuns and 44 foreign nuns; 370 catechists; 1 major seminary with 42 students and 1 minor seminary with 110 students; there are 23 districts; 87 quasi-parishes, 200 churches and 546 chapels. There are 1,069 teachers; 212 elementary schools, with 7,285 male and 2,469 female pupils; 4 middle schools, with 763 male and 886 female pupils; 2 high schools, with 825 male and 496 female pupils; 1 school for catechists, with 43 students; 4 hospitals with 140 beds; 4 orphanages with 140 orphans; 2 homes for the elderly with 1,003 residents; 1 printing press, from which various periodicals are published. H., the intellectual capital of Vietnam, is the residence of the Ordinary.