Catholic Church in Laos

Rather, Laos is divided into four Apostolic Vicariates,[2] which are pre-diocesan jurisdictions that are entitled to a titular bishop and are exempt, i.e., directly subject to the Holy See and its missionary Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The Holy See has an Apostolic Delegation (papal diplomatic legation of lower rank than an embassy) to Laos.

One of the two bishops resident in Vientiane oversaw the Vientiane Diocese and was responsible for the central part of the country while the second bishop resident in Vientiane was the Bishop of Luang Prabang - he was assigned to the northern part of the country, but while the Government did not permit him to take up his post, it did permit him to travel to visit church congregations in the north.

[4] The church's property in Luang Prabang was seized after the 1975 Communist takeover, and there is no longer a parsonage in that city.

[3] In 2007 an informal Catholic training center in Thakhek prepared a small number of priests to serve the Catholic community while several foreign nuns temporarily serve in the Vientiane diocese.