A word from the Superior General

Sometime in 2010, and while Father Jean-Luc Morin was still member of the General Council, he received an invitation from one of his priest friends to go and discover Vietnam. During a talk which he was giving in one of the parishes he spoke about the charism of our Congregation, a young man approached him saying that he would like to live this spirituality. The General Chapter of 2011 saw in this witness of Fr Jean-Luc a call from the Lord to spread our missionary branch further afield. Today we come to realise that the missionary responses by our religious family have always been a good thing.

This General Chapter is happy at the calls that are reaching us from Vietnam; after the experience of Joseph Tuan and the encouragement from different members of the local Church (bishops, priests, religious, laity) the Chapter sees here a call from the Holy Spirit as well as a challenge for our Congregation of the Sacred Heart. (Acts of the General Chapter 2011)

Amongst other things the General Chapter also asks us to carry on making our charism known and to decide on the opening of a community within the next ten years. (Same text)

Father Francis Xavier Le Van Cuong is a young Vietnamese priest of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart at Hue. For the moment he is lodging with the community at Notre Dame des Miracles in Rome where he is doing Canon Law at the Holy Cross University. It was with him that I visited Vietnam last August. Fr Xavier had well organised my trip and was always at my side. I spent several days with his community in Hue and consequently was present at a number of celebrations: the admission of 13 young men to the novitiate in their new religious habit, the religious profession of another 13 young men, and the final profession of a further 6 religious.

After Hue we left for the national pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of La Van. There were lots of people present as well as some Bishops and priests. There were signs of popular fervour, lots of confessions, and lots of communions. A larger shrine is in the process of being built.
We continued on our journey towards the north and were lodged at the Pastoral Centre of Than Hoa. The bishop knows us well for it is from his diocese that come the young Vietnamese who are with us in Thailand. We were able to greet their parish priest but didn’t meet their families. The next stage was Bui Chu, see of Mgr Thomas Vu Dinh Hien who studied at Toulouse, knows Betharram very well since his thesis was on God’s Will as practised by St Michael Garicoits. The bishop had very little time to give us so we were received by the Rosary Sisters. In the Bui Chu region there are many Catholics and many large churches of western style. This region was evangelised by the Dominicans who left their mark. Elsewhere we saw the results of the missionary activity of the MEP– missionaries of Paris who also left their mark on the region. It was one of their religious who actually developed how their language is written today.

What are my impressions of Vietnam and the Vietnamese? For me they have greatly suffered, first under Chinese control, then under Communism which began by splitting the country in two then became a political structure extended to the whole country today. The Church in Vietnam maintains a lively memory of the martyrs and age of persecution under the Communists. Who has not heard tell of Cardinal Van Thuan and his witness from his prison? I had the grace of meeting the priest from Fr Xavier’s village and who had spent ten years in prison. One is overcome with emotion listening to his account and seeing his social commitment at the service of a religious community which cares for unmarried mothers.

I was equally impressed by the size of the buildings, the convents and communities of senior sisters, novices, postulants and aspirants. The sisters’ communities live on the fruits of their labour. They all have crèches but are not allowed to direct schools or colleges; they have no cars and lead a poor existence but with dignity. They try to give a service in centres where poor patients are cared for freely with the help of benefactors.

The Church in Vietnam is formed of communities which are lively and dynamic. One gets the feeling that it is a Church faithful to Vatican II; the liturgy is in the spirit of the Council, and there are few departures from what is requested. The priests and religious wear their habits for church functions only, but not outside their communities. In all the churches and chapels the bible is placed near the tabernacle. In nearly all the churches there is great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Our Lady and St Joseph.

The seminaries are chock-a-block full. In the diocese of Vin which is where there is the greatest number of vocations, of the 400 candidates only 40 have been accepted. I find that the formation is serious. According to the rules laid down by the Vietnamese Bishops’ Conference formation in the seminaries and religious Institutes can only begin after 24 to 25 years of age. And according to what the Rector of the seminary at Hue was telling me – himself a Vietnamese Sulpicien – the formation follows very strict rules: 2 years humanity, 1 year spirituality, 2 years philosophy, 1 year stage, 4 years theology, 1 year deaconate before being finally admitted to ordination.

Father Xavier organised my meetings with the Bishops of Hue, Than Hoa, Bui Chu, Hannoi and Saigon. All received me with great warmth and told me that the North was much less tolerant than the South. The Vietnamese are highly respected by the Communist government, which is not the case of foreigners. They advised us to open a community in Saigon where we could receive young candidates and accompany them for a year or two as aspirants; they could then pursue their formation in India or Thailand for example.

Three Vietnamese are actually postulants in Thailand, for before my visit Fathers Jean-Luc, Jiraphat, Austin and Tidkham have already made several trips to Thailand. I myself had chats with three young men who want to live our charism and enter our Congregation.

In January 2015 the Council of Congregation will have the task of rubber-stamping this project which was requested by the General Chapter. They will be aided by Father Jiraphat who knows the project well and also knows the people involved.

I am asking all the communities to keep this project, which is the project of the entire Congregation, in their prayers, and especially on the 8th of each month as suggested by the General Chapter.

Gaspar Fernández Pérez, scj
Superior General