Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City (, ) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the south of Vietnam. By far the largest diocese in the country by population and second in the number of Catholics, yet like most big cities, it covers a relatively small area of .
The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Vðáng cung thánh ÃÂðá»Âng ChÃÂnh tòa ÃÂức Mẹ Vô nhiá» m Nguyên tá»Âi) in Ho Chi Minh City has been assigned as the cathedral of the archdiocese. There are also popular and historic churches such as Saint Francis Xavier Church, Saint Jeanne d'Arc Church, Saint Joseph Church, Sacred Heart Church, Saint Philip Church, and Tân ÃÂá»Ânh Church.
By 2004, the archdiocese had about 602,478 believers (11.0% of the population), 519 priests and 195 parishes.
The archdiocese is a "sister" diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles (United States) since 2008.
The archdiocese ministers often take part in international exchanges and contacts, though with special permission of the Vietnamese authorities.
The young Catholics from the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City and Archdiocese of Hanoi formed in 2006 an organization for helping children in rural and underdeveloped areas of Vietnam. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City regularly organizes special mass events including the Youth Day in December 2007, which was attended by more than 7 000 young people, who take part in volunteer and charitable activities, and two prayer vigils "God is rich in compassion" in March 2008 with the participation of several thousand faithful.
There is a center of social work organized by the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City, which consists of priests, laypeople, and members of civil groups. The center is occupied with three main problems: helping street children, activities to reduce HIV/AIDS level, helping its victims, and social and psychological work with prostitutes to get them off the streets.
The ecclesiastical province of Sài Gòn contains the following suffragan dioceses in south Vietnam:
Since its establishment in 1844, this archdiocese has gone through various names: Vicariate Apostolic of West Tonkin (1844âÂÂ1924), Vicariate Apostolic of Saigon (1924âÂÂ1960), and then the Archdiocese of Saigon (from 1960). Nowadays, this archdiocese is called the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City, after the administrative name of the city, and in its communications, the Vatican uses this name.
In reality, the name Archdiocese of Saigon is still used in the documents of the Catholic Church in Vietnam. Additionally, sometimes the name used is the Archdiocese of Saigon â Ho Chi Minh City.
The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Sài Gòn (Vðáng cung thánh ÃÂðá»Âng ChÃÂnh tòa ÃÂức Mẹ Vô nhiá» m Nguyên tá»Âi, or more commonly Nhàthá» ÃÂức BàSài Gòn) in Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be one of the main city attractions and one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Vietnam. It was built from 1877 to 1880 by the French architect J. Bourad, has a Neo-Romanesque façade with twin towers and a statue of the Virgin Mary in the center front.