Interview with Fr. John Chrysostom Pham Ngoc Truong, Provincial Delegate for the Youth Ministry VIE

By Our Own Correspondent

HCM City, Vietnam, 28 March 2017

What are the main areas of the YM in VIE province?

There are already 4 vocation technical schools-training centers, 32 parishes, many boarding houses, some oratory, many come-and-see program of vocation ministry. In my opinion, however, the most distinctive and challenging area is the Salesian Parish.

It is a matter of death or life to make Salesian Parishes more distinctively and visibly Salesian. It is necessary to highlight the Salesian charismatic identity in Salesian parishes with some emphasized marks: ability to coordinate the forces of all sorts to care for the poor young ones; catechetical and missionary trends; great concern to the ordinary and working class. Therefore, it is essential to live out the community dimension of Salesian consecration in the parish. We need to define the animating nucleus of the community guided by the Rector and the collaboration of the parish. The role of the Salesian parish priest needs to be renewed in religious and consecrated way, without falling to the temptation of clerical mentality. Yes, we need a conversion in the sense of belonging.

The vocation ministry area comes next. The fact that very few vocations come from our Salesian environment speaks to us something essential. So we need to enhance and advance the attractive witness and beauty of Salesian prophetic life, personal and communal. Candidates to Salesian life should be moved and touched by witnesses of a total self-giving, work and temperance. At the same time, we need to pay attention to the fast decreasing number of vocations. Sure, it is not the problem of quantity that concerns us much. Anyway, we cannot ignore such a fact.

Another urgent need to animate is the Oratory: to return to Don Bosco's original desire when he launched the work of oratory. It is not a problem of entertainment and recreation.  It must be educative and missionary by means of playground at the first glance. It is time to evaluate the quantity and quality of our oratories at Salesian houses for a pastoral and educative springboard, to reach out to local youth.

After two years as YM delegate, what strong points and challenges do you discover?

We notice some strong points like good number of young and zealous confreres, as well many dedicated youths who are attracted by the closeness of the Salesians.

We notice also quite few challenges like lack of team work, difficulty to work together for the one Mission for the young and poor; a long-term provincial plan for specialization of the confreres has just been started. After the initial formation stages, very few confreres boldly launch initiatives to reach out to the marginalized youths with the zeal of pastoral charity. Lack of desire for the updating of Salesians to face social and cultural change of the young in Vietnam, a lot of time during weekdays is wasted (parish background, too much leisure and free time, lack of serious commitment to the mission and Preventive System and its loving kindness need to be lived in more visible way.

Looking forward to make grow the vocation and missionary culture in the province, what strategies or path are important to follow?

Yes, we need a clear-cut plan of life at personal level, and growth in the planning culture at provincial and local. What do we need is a fraternal and pastoral - missionary conversion.

The Salesian YM Framework of Reference is already translated into Vietnamese and is in the hands of all perpetually professed confreres. What are according you the most important way how to make it part of our daily educative and pastoral work?

• Step 1: A serious study of the Salesian YM Framework of Reference by each and every Salesian.
• Step 2: As Youth Ministry Commission we need to assimilate the Framework of Reference as well as possible and make it work with the support by the Provincial and his council.
• Step 3: Framework of Reference should be put into practice in each and every local community, in each and every works with in an integral manner, step by step.

Any other sharing...

We are eagerly waiting for the animation visit of Father Fabio Attard, the General Councilor for the Youth Ministry, who will come next August for preaching a retreat and conducting a workshop on the Salesian Youth Ministry Framework (SDB together with the FMA!).  We expect from this patient and long term renewal a growth in Salesian apostolic consecration within each Salesian community of Vietnam and Mongolia and in the heart of each Salesian!

---

---