The Catholic Church in Laos: Faith Flourishing Amid Challenges

Intense Pastoral and Social Activity Driving Growth and Hope

Joaquim Magalhães de Castro

Despite being small, the Catholic community in Laos maintains a fervent missionary spirit, not least because they are aware that the future of the local Church is in their own hands: according to the law in force in Laos, missionaries can only stay in the country for short periods of time. Hence the absolute priority given to work around local vocations, both for the priesthood and for consecrated life or for lay ministries, such as catechists.

From the Episcopal Conference of Laos and Cambodia: all the necessary support. Paul Chatsirey Roeung, a Cambodian priest from the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh and National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Laos and Cambodia, who regularly visits Lao parishes, assures us that “pastoral life in the country remains peaceful”, but he also points out that for larger initiatives, authorisation from government authorities is required. This authorisation varies from province to province and is granted or not depending on who holds the reins of power at the time.

In recent years, the number of Catholics has been increasing in Laos – it is a fact! – and it is young people who are most likely to embrace the new religion, with a significant increase in the number of people enrolled in the country’s various seminaries; this bodes well for the future. The Church is confident in itself and its pastoral and missionary work is gradually progressing. Several catechists accompany the priests when they administer the sacraments in the villages, and it is not uncommon for them to perform these functions themselves, thus demonstrating an “enormous testimony of faith” and “a true desire to proclaim the Gospel”.

In the south of the country, in the Apostolic Vicariate of Paksè – which has around 22,000 Catholics and eight diocesan priests – the role of the Franciscans stands out. There, the friars of this order live in a village originally founded as a leper colony by a French missionary priest. Their main task is the restoration of the local Church, that is, “the concrete construction of structures for pastoral care”, but above all “the spiritual growth of the people of God, with a view to the future of the Church in Laos”. In the last ten years, the Franciscans have completed the construction of five brick churches and four wooden chapels, as well as the Vicariate’s retreat and formation centre. They are also active in the social field: a series of projects are underway to provide electricity and drinking water to the most deprived rural communities, in addition to helping with a plantation on the lands of the Apostolic Vicariate.

The Franciscan community also runs two dormitories – “where students from poor villages stay overnight” – and, thanks to various donors, offers around 50 scholarships to needy students, from primary to higher education. The Franciscans in Paksè are fully integrated into the local Church and Bishop Andrew Souksavath Nouane Asa, Apostolic Vicar of Paksè, frequently expresses the local community’s appreciation for the Franciscans, “for their way of life and their ability to provide a better life for the people of Paksè”.

Lao Catholics are also concerned about the local geopolitical situation, and for this reason they will be ready to join without reservations an already announced (but still undated) international conference in Laos, which currently holds the presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). There, the reactivation of dialogue to find “a solution to the political crisis in Myanmar and a realistic peace” will be discussed. This will be a step towards regional management of the crisis and civil war that has shaken Myanmar since the military coup in 2021, and which also affects neighboring countries in social and economic terms, as well as in terms of refugee flows.

The conference will be co-organized by Laos in collaboration with Indonesia and Malaysia, which are part of a ‘troika’ created in September 2023 to continue diplomatic efforts. This announcement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos, Saleumxay Kommasith, at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Vientiane on October 3, without indicating a specific date for the conference. The Catholic Church in Laos was originally part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Siam. Today, there are four Apostolic Vicariates in Laos (Vientiane, Paksè, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet) with a total of about 60,000 Catholics throughout the country.

Since the official recognition of the Catholic Church by the Lao Front for National Development in 1979, relations between the Church and the government have gradually improved, also within the framework of religious freedom recognized in the 1991 Constitution (the State officially recognizes four religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahaí religion), but with the limitations established by law. Since 2017, the Catholic faith has also had a cardinal appointed by Pope Francis: Louis Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, now 80 years old, Apostolic Vicar of Vientiane).