Francis Daw Tang
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Francis Daw Tang (born December 19, 1949, in Bum Dum village)[1] is the current Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Myitkyina, in Kachin State, Myanmar.
Since 2003, Daw Tang, an ethnic Kachin, has been the primary clergyman in Myitkyina, overseeing more than 40 priests and often making executive decisions on a variety of projects currently undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church in the highly under-developed region of northern Burma.[2]
During his time as bishop, Daw Tang has frequently petitioned government, military and paramilitary organizations to resolve conflicts and push towards a meaningful peace process in order to mitigate death and displacement. (see Views)
Like many Catholic clergy in Kachin State, Daw Tang is trilingual. He is also chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Laity and a member of Philosophate of Episcopal Commission for Seminaries.
Daw Tang, like many elder Catholic clergy in Kachin State, was initially baptized by an Irish Columban missionary priest.[2]
Two weeks before turning 30 years old, Daw Tang was ordained deacon on Dec. 4, 1979 in St. Joseph Catholic Major Seminary, Yangon. Earlier that year, he was ordained a priest on March 25 by Bishop Paul Zinghtung Grawng, the first ethnic Kachin to enter priesthood in the history of Catholicism.
From 1979 onwards, Daw Tang served at Nangling parish for a total of 14 years, before eventually filling a challenging role as parish priest in Hpakant, Myanmar.[2]
Daw Tang remained in Hpakant for a total of nine years, from 1993 to 2002, before he was episcopally ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Myitkyina. It was this year where he truly became entrenched with his duties as Bishop, but it wasn't until 2004 that he was officially ordained as Bishop.[3]
On Dec. 3, 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Daw Tang Bishop of Myitkyina.[4]
