The Catholic Church in Laos marked a historic transition on March 25 with the episcopal ordination of Anthony Adoun Hongsaphong as bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Vientiane.
Held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the capital, the ceremony drew clergy and faithful from across Laos and neighboring Thailand and Cambodia.
The ordination coincided with the annual assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Laos and Cambodia, bringing together bishops from the region.
Among the attending prelates were Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana of Bangkok—recently elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand—Archbishop Anthony Weradet Chaiseri of Thare-Nongseng, and Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, retired Archbishop of Bangkok. Archbishop Peter Brian Wells, Apostolic Nuncio to Thailand and Cambodia and Apostolic Delegate to Laos, represented the Holy See.
The liturgical celebration followed the traditional rite of episcopal ordination. After the proclamation of the papal bull issued by Pope Francis in December 2024, Hongsaphong professed fidelity to the Church and received the laying on of hands from the bishops present, symbolizing Apostolic Succession.
The Book of the Gospels was held open above his head during the Prayer of Ordination, marking his duty to proclaim the Word of God.
Hongsaphong, 61, succeeds Cardinal Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, who stepped down after reaching the age of 80.
The new bishop previously served in the Apostolic Vicariate of Pakse, where he held pastoral, academic, and administrative roles.
Born in Pakse on April 4, 1964, Hongsaphong studied at Saint Charles Boromée Major Seminary and earned degrees in canon law from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
Ordained in 1994, he served as parish vicar, tribunal judge, seminary rector, and professor of canon law and theology. Since 2014, he has overseen 11 missionary stations in Pakse.
His episcopal motto, drawn from Psalm 26, is “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”
Laos is home to an estimated 60,000 Catholics—about 0.6% of the population—in a predominantly Buddhist country of 2.5 million.
The Sacred Heart Cathedral, built in 1929 by the Missions Étrangères de Paris, remains the heart of Catholic life in the vicariate.
