Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyay

Diocese of Pyay

Dioecesis Pyayensis
Location
CountryMyanmar
Ecclesiastical provinceYangon
MetropolitanYangon
Statistics
Area80,906 km2 (31,238 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2004)
9,028,000
24,300 (0.3%)
Information
DenominationRoman Catholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established9 July 1940 (As Prefecture Apostolic of Akyab)
19 September 1957 (As Prefecture Apostolic of Prome)
21 February 1961 (As Diocese of Prome)
8 October 1991 (As Diocese of Pyay)
CathedralSt Paul’s Cathedral in Pyay
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopAlexander Pyone Cho
Metropolitan ArchbishopCharles Maung Bo
Bishops emeritusJoseph Devellerez Thaung Shwe Bishop Emeritus (1976-2010)
Gregory Taik Maung Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1985-2010)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyay (Lat: Diocesis Pyayensis) is a suffragan diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Burma, in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yangon (Rangoon), but like that depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Its Cathedral episcopal see is St. Paul’s Cathedral, in Pyay, Bago Region.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 25,810 Catholics (0.3% of 9,889,000 total) on 80,938 km² in 20 parishes and 1 mission with 40 priests (39 diocesan, 1 religious), 110 lay religious (5 brothers, 105 sisters) and 13 seminarians.

History

Originally erected on 9 July 1940 as the Apostolic prefecture of Akyab, the pre-diocese has the distinction of being the only ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Burma created from the Diocese of Chittagong (in Bengal, now Metropolitan; by La Salette Fathers (M.S.) mission).

On 19 September 1957, its name was changed to the Apostolic prefecture of Prome.

On 21 February 1961, the prefecture was elevated to a full bishopric as Diocese of Prome.

Finally on 8 October 1991, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Pyay and became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Yangon

The resignation for health reasons of Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Taik Maung, appointed in 1991, who was serving as Apostolic Administrator, was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, July 16, 2010. On Friday, December 3, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Devellerez Thaung Shwe as Bishop and appointed Burmese priest Alexander Pyone Cho, a native of the Pyay Diocese (on loan "fidei donum" to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina, Kansas, USA), as Bishop of Pyay.

Ordinaries

(all Roman Rite, till 2010 foreign members of a Latin missionary congregation)

Apostolic Prefect of Akyab
Apostolic Prefect of Prome
  • Thomas Albert Newman, M.S. † (see above 2 October 1975 - 1961.02.21 see below)
Suffragan Bishops of Prome

See also

References