Vientiane (UCAN): Father Anthony Adoun Hongsaphong was ordained as the new bishop and apostolic vicar of Vientiane, Laos, on March 25, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
In a country where foreign missionaries are still not allowed, the apostolic prefect of Battambang in neighboring Cambodia, Jesuit Father Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález, described the ordination as “the great hope of the Church in Laos” since it shows “the vitality of a small but vibrant ecclesial community.”
Bishops from the Episcopal Conference of Laos and Cambodia attended the ordination ceremony as they gathered in the Laotian capital for their annual assembly.
The 61-year-old Bishop Hongsaphong succeeds Louis-Marie Ling Cardinal Mangkhanekhoun, who turned 80 in April 2024, Fides reported.
The new bishop is a priest of Pakse, one of the four apostolic vicariates in Laos, alongside Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Savannakhet.
The bishop was a professor at the National Major Seminary of Thakeh and served as pastor in the 11 mission stations of the Apostolic Vicariate of Paksé.
Bishop Hongsaphong was ordained a priest in 1994 and completed his studies at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, and the Pontifical Angelicum University in Rome.
The new apostolic vicar also worked in Thailand before moving to Laos in 2005, where he took on the responsibility of training seminarians at the Pastor Bonus Seminary in Paksé.
Although the government still does not allow foreign missionaries in the country, the local Church shows signs of growth, according to Fides.
