Panghkak Parish

About (48) miles away to the East of Banmaw, Panghkak Parish is now located at Lwegel town which is at the borderline between Myanmar and China. Formerly, parish center was based at Panghkak village about 5 miles away from the town. In 1910’s MEP missionaries started visiting the place from their first mission station, Prang Hkudung. In 1920, Fr. Lawrence Carolous U Htun Win (MEP) from Mandalay Diocese came to the region and settled down for the mission in Panghkak village. And Mr. Sumlut Tu Lum is believed to be the first convert from this area during 1920’s.

Fr. Carolous U Htun Win took care of the pastoral work of the parish till 1939, and then, the mission was handed over to Columban Missionaries in 1939. Columban Missionaries left the country in 1979, and the parish was vacant till 1989 due to inadequate number of local priests. In 1990, Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam (priest at that time) was assigned as the first Parish Priest of Panghkak. After him, the parish was administered by Rev. Fr. Jangmaw Tu Shan from 2003 – 2019.

At present, Panghkak Parish is under the administration of Rev. Fr. Luke Hpa Shan Lum who was assigned as the Parish Priest in the year of 2022. Two religious communities are also helping the priest and working in the parish.