Life of the Congregation

After visiting the families of our candidates in Vietnam, their Dioceses and Parishes, Fr Jeeraphat sent a report to the Superior general. We publish parts of this report as a portrait of the Country.

The country: Vietnam is a small country, located in Southeast Asia, the land is full of mountains and rivers with a sea border. The country has two distinct parts: the north has Hanoi as Capital and the South has Ho Chi Minh City. These two are quite different, for example, in the north the people are poorer, and depend more on agriculture than tourism for a living, and have a rural lifestyle. They have four seasons, whereas in the South there are only two seasons, and people are richer, better educated more adaptable and less strict in their Communism. Over the entire country of 99 million people the Government is Communist. The majority of the population (80%) are Vietnamese and others are tribals. Most people depend on agriculture and the important crop is Rice. The people are very kind, humble, simple and friendly. Vietnam is a developing country, and everywhere we could see road construction. We saw houses, buildings, shops, churches, technology, machines, and gained some insight into the mentality of the people.

The Family: the Vietnamese consider the family to be unique and they keep everything in the house: they have a place for animals, and mixed plants around the house. Also the house is a place for welcoming visitors; each family member is very important and each one has to collaborate and support the family. The children have to take care of their parents when they are getting old. The Vietnamese couple prefer to have a son rather than a daughter, because the man will take care of the property and carry on the family generation.

The Culture: I could see that Vietnam has a rich culture. Hospitality to a guest is most important: every family I visited showed me great respect and a friendly welcome, offering tea, which is a sign of friendship. Every house has a very special place for tea drinking, and their cultural traditions are influenced by the Chinese, and closely related to agriculture. The greatest festival is called “Tet Holiday”, a sort of New Year celebration: all the people go back to their house, in their home village and spend two weeks with the family. Firstly every family cleans and decorates the house, prepares food and a special cake made from sticky rice. Then on the celebration day, each one has to visit the neighbours and bless each other. Catholics on this feast all will visit the graves of their relatives in the cemetery, and come to the Church for Mass giving thanks to God.

Religion: Most people worship their ancestors, though some are animist, Buddhist, Muslim, Protestants, Catholics and of other beliefs. The people are very faithful to their own faith, respect each other and live in harmony and peace. But the Government has decreed that the official religion is Ancestor worship. Catholics have no official recognition before the Government, and sometimes find it hard to make their way. For example Catholics cannot work in Government Jobs; they cannot be policemen, or government officers.

The Catholic Church: according to current statistics, the catholic population is about 10 million; there are 23 Dioceses, and 3 Archdioceses. The Diocesan priests number around 3000, religious priests around 1000, and religious sisters around 15,500. In some Dioceses, they do not have enough priests, so they use the laypeople to operate and administer the parish. The working day begins very early and religious communities often celebrate mass at 5.00 am.

The young seeds: We could see many young people come to the Church: they are very active in liturgical celebrations. The Parish priests are happy to point out how many young people join vocation camps during the summer and how the young put in a lot of energy in different parish activities throughout the pastoral year such as catechism and charitable initiatives for the needy. Many young people are also genuinely interested in priestly and religious life. Many of them face difficulties due to the government stance on Catholic religion. This does not deter them from living their faith openly: the number of young people in the different formation houses speaks volumes!

Even though things will not be easy, Betharram – with the help of bishops, priests and lay people who have already come forward to support us – can gain a foothold in Vietnam and spread the message and the spirituality of Saint Michael Garicoits”

Jiraphat Raksikhao scj