THAI-BINH, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. — Situated in eastern Tonkin (Vietnam), it comprises the province of the same name, the most densely populated in Indochina, and the province of Hung-yen, whose combined area is 2,207 sq km. A characteristic feature of this vicariate is the considerable number of Catholics in relation to the very limited area of the territory. Of a population of 1,850,000 inhabitants, 116,200 are Catholics.
On 5 Sept. 1848, the vicariate apostolic of eastern Tonkin (now Haiphong) was divided, and the vicariate of central Tonkin was created; on 3 Dec. 1924 it assumed the Buichu (v.). From that vicariate, on 9 March 1936, the vicariate apostolic of T.-B. was separated and entrusted to the Dominicans of the province of the Most Holy Rosary in the Philippine Islands. The history of the beginnings of evangelization in this ecclesiastical district is shared with that of all the missions of Tonkin. Having arrived in Cochinchina as early as 1615, the Jesuits did not enter Tonkin until nine years later. The successes of Christianity in the southern kingdom led the superiors in Macao to try their fortune among the inhabitants of the wealthy lordship of the north. Alessandro de Rhodes, who from his arrival in Cochinchina had distinguished himself by his aptitude for the indigenous language, was then recalled to Macao and appointed to undertake the mission of Tonkin, where he landed on 19 March 1627, linking his name with the origins of the flourishing Christian communities of Tonkin. Statistics: 60 national and 17 foreign priests; 307 national and 3 foreign nuns; 5 major seminarians; 198 elementary schools; 48 secondary schools; 4 vocational schools; 16 hospitals; one dispensary; 19 orphanages; 2 homes for the elderly; one school for the deaf and mute; 51 primary stations, 372 churches, and 218 chapels.
(photo: Photographic and Discographic Laboratory — Holy Land)
THABOR — Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, architects A. and G. Barluzzi.