A vision of faith for Vietnam
1) In their social activities, especially with the government: Vietnamese Catholics are trying to conduct a sincere and straightforward dialogue with the communists to show that we worship God while always involving in the service for the welfare of our fellow citizens. A Commission on Justice and Peace has been created in the Vietnamese Catholic Bishops’ Conference (VCBC) to guide the Catholics to live according to the social doctrine of the Church. In addition, the newly presence—though not resident—of the Apostolic Nuncio has greatly improved the relationship with the government and the non-Catholics, while helping to build a greater mutual knowledge and trust.
2) Inculturation is an approach that has been particularly taken by the missionaries in their evangelization task. Among the fifty four ethnic minorities existing in Vietnam, thirty have not been evangelized yet, and the bishops have always encouraged the Catholics to pray, give offerings and engage themselves in the evangelization of these ethnics. For those who have been evangelized, a priority option has been the translation of the Bible and liturgy texts into their dialects, and studies and researches have been conducted regarding their customs and cultures to highlight any evangelical values inherent in them. This was expounded in the Pastoral Letter of the VCBC on June 14, 1965. Specifically, the Cardinal Archbishop of Saigon has encouraged the diocesan Committee on Culture to study evangelical values in the Vietnamese literature and customs. Also the Bishop of Hai Phong has promoted the proclamation of the Gospel through the marriage and funeral rites.
3) In their relationship with other religions, the Vietnamese Catholics are trying to understand their beliefs. The Inter-religious Committee of Saigon diocese organizes a meeting and common prayer on the 27 October every year to invite all religions to go back to the source of love from the Most High. This year’s topic for such meeting is: “Prayer to overcome all difficulties in life”.
4) For the Catholic families, education in Faith is put in the first place. The VCBC’s Commission on Doctrine and Faith has translated into Vietnamese the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the documents of Vatican II to make known their teachings and to serve as guides for training courses. The catechist training movement has involved many Christians, while common prayer in the families is promoted by the parish priests.
5) The New Evangelization process is being studied and implemented all over the dioceses. Remarkable activities are the health care for poor people, aids for the immigrants and an open attitude toward the digital technologies in communication, especially for the youth. In these sectors, there is a very active cooperation among the priests and religious.
With these shared experiences in the task of evangelization, the Church in Vietnam earnestly wishes to learn from other Sister-Churches to be enriched and helped in her evangelization mission. In this connection, it is very encouraging for the Church in Vietnam to have the honor to host the FABC 10th Plenary Assembly this year.
Thank you for your attention.
