(ZENIT News – OMPress / Rome, 01..23.2026) – Friday, January 23, marks the 500th anniversary of the creation of the Diocese of Macau, the oldest in China, and also the first anniversary of the creation, on January 23, 2025, of the Diocese of Alto Molócué in Mozambique. The fact is that in recent years numerous mission dioceses have been created, demonstrating the vitality of the young Churches.
Currently, there are 1,132 mission territories under the Dicastery for the Evangelization of Peoples. The most recent ecclesiastical circumscription created within the missionary Church was the Diocese of Caia, also in Mozambique, on December 23. In total, five new dioceses were created during 2025. In addition to the two in Mozambique, the Diocese of Mindat in Myanmar, the Diocese of Bagamoyo in Tanzania, and the Diocese of Zhangjiakou in China were also established.
The largest number of these mission territories, or «young Churches,» as Pope Francis called them, is in Africa, with 532. Asia has 482. In the Americas there are 72, mostly Apostolic Vicariates in the Amazon region, and in Oceania there are 46. In total, they comprise 326 million Catholics, with 96,000 priests and 192,000 nuns. These dioceses, Apostolic Vicariates, and Apostolic Prefectures are organized into 39,300 parishes, although the concept of a parish — in many cases with numerous «missions» or «communities» in different places — does not fully coincide with the concept of a parish in a country of ancient Christendom.
In total, 34 «new» mission territories have been created in the last ten years. These are always divisions of existing territories where the number of faithful has increased. In fact, in the case of Macau, which today celebrates its 500th anniversary, the territories of countries such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Laos, as well as China, depended on it for their evangelization. These territories now have dozens of dioceses with fervent communities and numerous vocations. It is the responsibility of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the source of spiritual and material cooperation for mission territories, to support these new particular dioceses and promote the missionary responsibility of every baptized person throughout the world so that they may support and back them.
