austraLasia 1272
Year of the Eucharist in Ho Chi Minh City: public officials are grateful!
HO CHI MINH CITY: 4th OCtober 2005 -- In an unusual twist to life in Ho Chi Minh City, some public officials are grateful for the introduction of continuous Eucharistic adoration during the Year of the Eucharist in as many as 50 parishes in the city. Many citizens are to be found in the churches, and as a consequence the notoriously dense traffic is easier, crime is down, citizens are gentler - fewer domestic and workplace quarrels. There is even a thought being given to police funding such initiatives!
A highly placed individual in the Church in HCM has given an overview of the Church's life in HCM. The experience of the Church in Eastern Europe as it gradually began to open after the fall of the Berlin Wall has also been of value to the Church in Vietnam, especially in HCM, though there is not the full freedom that would be desirable. There is a long waiting list for the major seminary, for example. The minor seminary has been closed since 1975. Every second year 20 candidates are allowed to start in the major seminary, the only such seminary for six southern dioceses. There are hopes that before the end of this year, with the creation of a new diocese, there will be one more major seminary to help cater for the 130 candidates on the waiting list.
The old minor seminary facilities were returned by the Government in 2004 and are now being used for the training of formators for lay formation. It will, it is hoped, be a pastoral centre. There are at least two dozen lay organisations in HCM, all in need of formation manuals and textbooks. An example of such a need would be the desire for an ethics handbook for doctors or for teachers. Lay movements are flourishing: there are 6,000 volunteers available for service as catechists, 4,000 members of parish councils ready to be trained. The archdiocese, with Cardinal John Baptist Pham Minh Man as its head, has priests studying in Rome, France and the USA in an effort to 'globalise' formation resources.
One particular need in the city is that of pastoral attention to migrant workers. The Salesians offer a sizeable response to this need (workers flowing in from central and north Vietnam, the majority of them women working in textile and garment industries). The Salesian Parish of Xuan Hiep includes many migrant workers amongst its flock. In fact the Salesian presence in the city is very much appreciated for its 'humble evangelisation' and simple vocational training centres. Initially, the police were even reluctant to give a permit to the FMA to begin their work in some of the poorest parts of the city; now they have begged the Salesians and the Sisters to stay put, because of the obvious impact on the social life of the areas they are involved in.
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Year of the Eucharist in Ho Chi Minh City: public officials are grateful!
HO CHI MINH CITY: 4th OCtober 2005 -- In an unusual twist to life in Ho Chi Minh City, some public officials are grateful for the introduction of continuous Eucharistic adoration during the Year of the Eucharist in as many as 50 parishes in the city. Many citizens are to be found in the churches, and as a consequence the notoriously dense traffic is easier, crime is down, citizens are gentler - fewer domestic and workplace quarrels. There is even a thought being given to police funding such initiatives!
A highly placed individual in the Church in HCM has given an overview of the Church's life in HCM. The experience of the Church in Eastern Europe as it gradually began to open after the fall of the Berlin Wall has also been of value to the Church in Vietnam, especially in HCM, though there is not the full freedom that would be desirable. There is a long waiting list for the major seminary, for example. The minor seminary has been closed since 1975. Every second year 20 candidates are allowed to start in the major seminary, the only such seminary for six southern dioceses. There are hopes that before the end of this year, with the creation of a new diocese, there will be one more major seminary to help cater for the 130 candidates on the waiting list.
The old minor seminary facilities were returned by the Government in 2004 and are now being used for the training of formators for lay formation. It will, it is hoped, be a pastoral centre. There are at least two dozen lay organisations in HCM, all in need of formation manuals and textbooks. An example of such a need would be the desire for an ethics handbook for doctors or for teachers. Lay movements are flourishing: there are 6,000 volunteers available for service as catechists, 4,000 members of parish councils ready to be trained. The archdiocese, with Cardinal John Baptist Pham Minh Man as its head, has priests studying in Rome, France and the USA in an effort to 'globalise' formation resources.
One particular need in the city is that of pastoral attention to migrant workers. The Salesians offer a sizeable response to this need (workers flowing in from central and north Vietnam, the majority of them women working in textile and garment industries). The Salesian Parish of Xuan Hiep includes many migrant workers amongst its flock. In fact the Salesian presence in the city is very much appreciated for its 'humble evangelisation' and simple vocational training centres. Initially, the police were even reluctant to give a permit to the FMA to begin their work in some of the poorest parts of the city; now they have begged the Salesians and the Sisters to stay put, because of the obvious impact on the social life of the areas they are involved in.
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