Diocese of Bùi Chu

Country

Vietnam

Ecclesiastical provinceHà Nội

Area1,350 km² (520 sq mi)

Population

Total

Catholics

(as of 2021)

1,296,363

430,937^[1] (33.2%)

Diocese of Bùi Chu Dioecesis Buichuensis Giáo phận Bùi Chu

Catholic

Bùi Chu Cathedral (2011)
Location
Country	Vietnam
Ecclesiastical province	Hà Nội
Statistics
Area	1,350 km² (520 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2021) 1,296,363 430,937^[1] (33.2%)
Parishes	233^[2]
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	5 September 1848; 175 years ago as Apostolic Vicariate 24 November 1960; 63 years ago as Diocese
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
Patron saint	Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception^[3]
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Thomas Aquinas Vũ Đình Hiệu
Metropolitan Archbishop	Joseph Vũ Văn Thiên
Website
http://gpbuichu.org/

The diocese of Bùi Chu (Latin: Dioecesis Buichuensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese of Vietnam. It encompasses 4/5 of Nam Định Province in terms of area, including the six districts of Xuân Trường, Giao Thủy, Hải Hậu, Nghĩa Hưng, Trực Ninh, and Nam Trực and part of Nam Định city. The current bishop of the diocese since August 2013 is Thomas Aquinas Vũ Đình Hiệu.^[4]

Bùi Chu Diocese covers an area of 1,350 km², and is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Hanoi.

From the late 17th century until 1930s, this was a center of the Spanish Dominican mission in Vietnam. The covering area of Bùi Chu is the same as at present as it has been from 1936, when it still was an apostolic vicariate. It was declared a diocese on November 24, 1960.

By 2018, the Diocese of Bùi Chu had about 409,000 believers (32.8% of the population) in 176 parishes.^[5]

The diocese is divided into 13 deaneries: Báo Đáp, Bùi Chu, Đại Đồng, Kiên Chính, Lạc Đạo, Liễu Đề, Ninh Cường, Phú Nhai, Quần Phương, Quỹ Nhất, Thức Hóa, Tứ Trùng, and Tương Nam.

Ordinaries

Vicar Apostolic of Central Tonking (1847-1924)

Vicar apostolic		Period in office	Status	Reference
1	Bishop Domingo Martí, O.P.	May 18, 1847 – August 26, 1852	Died in office	^[6]
2	Bishop José María Díaz Sanjurjo, O.P.	August 26, 1852 – July 20, 1857	Died in office, Martyred.
3	Bishop José Melchór García-Sampedro Suárez, O.P.	July 20, 1857 – July 28, 1858
4	Bishop Valentín Faustino Berrio-Ochoa de Aristi, O.P.	July 28, 1858 – November 01, 1861
5	Bishop Bernabé García Cezón, O.P.	September 09, 1864 – November, 1879	Resigned
6	Bishop Manuel Ignacio Riaño	November, 1879 – November 26, 1884	Died in office
7	Bishop Wenceslao Oñate, O.P.	November 26, 1884 – June 23, 1897	Died in office
8	Bishop Máximo Fernández, O.P.	February 12, 1898 – August 14, 1907	Resigned
9	Bishop Pedro Muñagorri y Obineta, O.P.	August 14, 1907 – December 23, 1924	Remained as vicar apostolic of Bui Chu.

Vicar Apostolic of Bùi Chu (1924-1960)

Vicar apostolic		Period in office	Status	Reference
9	Bishop Pedro Muñagorri y Obineta, O.P.	December 03, 1924 – June 17, 1936	Died in office	^[7]
10	Bishop Domingo Hồ Ngọc Cẩn	June 17, 1936 – November 27, 1948	Died in office
–	Bishop Thaddeus Lê Hữu Từ, O. Cist.	1948 – February 03, 1950	Apostolic Administrator
11	Bishop Pierre-Marie Phạm Ngọc Chi	February 03, 1950 – March 05, 1960	Transferred to Quy Nhon
–	Fr. Joseph-Marie Phạm Năng Tĩnh	1959 – March 05, 1960	Apostolic Administrator
12	Bishop Joseph-Marie Phạm Năng Tĩnh	March 05, 1960 – November 24, 1960	Remained as bishop of Bui Chu

Bishop of Bùi Chu (1960-present)

Bishop		Period in office	Status	Reference
1	Bishop Joseph-Marie Phạm Năng Tĩnh	November 24, 1960 – February 11, 1974	Died in office	^[8]
2	Bishop Dominique-Marie Lê Hữu Cung	April 28, 1975 – March 12, 1987
3	Bishop Joseph Vũ Duy Nhất	March 12, 1987 – December 11, 1999
4	Bishop Joseph Hoàng Văn Tiệm, S.D.B.	July 04, 2001 – August 17, 2013
5	Bishop Thomas Vũ Đình Hiệu	August 17, 2013 – present	Current bishop

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Central Tonking (1848-1884)

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic		Period in office	Reference
1	Bishop José María Díaz Sanjurjo, O.P.	September 05, 1848 – August 26, 1852	^[9]
2	Bishop José Melchór García-Sampedro Suárez, O.P.	April 15, 1853 – July 20, 1857
3	Bishop Valentín Faustino Berrio-Ochoa de Aristi, O.P.	December 25, 1857 – July 28, 1858
4	Bishop Manuel Ignacio Riaño	August 20, 1866 – November, 1879
5	Bishop Wenceslao Oñate, O.P.	September 18, 1882 – November 26, 1884

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Bùi Chu (1935-1936)

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic		Period in office	Reference
1	Bishop Domingo Hồ Ngọc Cẩn	March 11, 1935 – June 17, 1936	^[10]

Coadjutor Bishops of Bùi Chu (1979-2013)

Coadjutor Bishops			Coat of Arms	Period in office	Reference
1		Bishop Joseph Vũ Duy Nhất		July 04, 1979 – March 12, 1987	^[11]
2		Bishop Thomas Vũ Đình Hiệu		December 24, 2012 – August 17, 2018	^[11]

Auxiliary Bishops of Bùi Chu (2005-2009)

			Coat of Arms	Period in office	Reference
1		Bishop Pierre Nguyễn Văn Đệ, S.D.B.		November 29, 2005 – July 25, 2009	^[12]

v t e Catholic dioceses in Vietnam
Province of Hanoi	Archdiocese of Hanoi Diocese of Bắc Ninh Diocese of Bùi Chu Diocese of Hà Tĩnh Diocese of Hải Phòng Diocese of Hưng Hóa Diocese of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng Diocese of Phát Diệm Diocese of Thái Bình Diocese of Thanh Hóa Diocese of Vinh
Province of Hue	Archdiocese of Huế Diocese of Ban Mê Thuột Diocese of Đà Nẵng Diocese of Kon Tum Diocese of Nha Trang Diocese of Qui Nhơn
Province of Saigon	Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City Diocese of Bà Rịa Diocese of Cần Thơ Diocese of Đà Lạt Diocese of Long Xuyên Diocese of Mỹ Tho Diocese of Phan Thiết Diocese of Phú Cường Diocese of Vĩnh Long Diocese of Xuân Lộc
Catholicism portal

Diocese of Bùi Chu

Ordinaries

Vicar Apostolic of Central Tonking (1847-1924)

Vicar Apostolic of Bùi Chu (1924-1960)

Bishop of Bùi Chu (1960-present)

Sites

References

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