Living the gospel in the hearts of the people to serve the happiness of our compatriots

(Baonghean) - Recently, witnessing the re-encroachment of some Catholic households in hamlets 11, 12, Quynh Giang commune and block 8, Cau Giat town, Quynh Luu district, affecting the construction progress of National Highway 1A, a key national project, as well as many other people, I wondered whether those actions were consistent with the pastoral direction of the Catholic Church as expressed in the 1980 General Letter of the Vietnam Bishops' Council, "Living the gospel in the heart of the nation to serve the happiness of our compatriots"?

Everyone knows that the National Highway 1A Upgrade and Expansion Project is a national key project of strategic significance to create a breakthrough in the development of transport infrastructure to serve the requirements of industrialization and modernization of the country, contributing to socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security, as well as economic, cultural and social connectivity and exchange between the North and the South. For Nghe An province in particular, this project plays an important role in promoting socio-economic development, attracting investment, and creating a premise for the effective implementation of Resolution 26 of the Politburo. Therefore, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee have mobilized the entire political system to participate and have placed great determination in site clearance - the key step to implement the project on schedule.

Through practical research and through the media, it is known that to ensure the progress of the project, to form the appearance of a spacious and modern road today, it requires great sacrifice from more than 4 thousand households living along the two National Highway 1A routes from Hoang Mai Town to Vinh City, including Catholic households. They have overcome the calculations of pros and cons, sacrificing for the benefit of the nation, which is also the benefit of their future generations. For example, in Nghi Yen Commune (Nghi Loc), there is Hamlet 4, an all-Catholic hamlet. When implementing the project to expand and upgrade National Highway 1A passing through the area, 100% of households in the hamlet had to leave their old residence and resettle in a new place.

However, these parishioners agreed to relocate to hand over the site to the contractor for the construction of National Highway 1A. Their sacrifice demonstrated their responsibility and civic duty in the spirit of the 1980 General Letter: “We must accompany our people, share a community of life with our people because this homeland is where we are called by God to live as His children, this country is the mother's womb that carries us in the process of fulfilling our calling as children of God, this nation is the community that God gives us to serve as both citizens and members of God's people”; and they certainly practiced obedience “based on the love of God the Father, based on the life-giving words of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit”, “boldly looking at the present and believing in the future” to “clarify our Faith and patriotism”!

General Letter 1980 of the Vietnamese Bishops' Council.

However, in hamlets 11, 12, Quynh Giang commune and block 8, Cau Giat town (Quynh Luu), with unreasonable demands for compensation for land within a radius of 13.5m (the land area within the road traffic safety boundary that was cleared in 1993 by PMU1 as the investor), some parishioners have re-encroached and refused to hand over the land to the contractor. Even more sadly, some extremists have also taken reckless actions to obstruct the construction such as ringing church bells, gathering crowds, placing pictures of the Virgin Mary on excavators, praying, insulting and threatening the construction force and people of the same faith who have handed over the land to the contractor for construction...

Up to now, it can be affirmed that the acts that hinder the development of society, homeland, and country are contrary to the spirit of doctrine, canon law, and the "gospel" direction of the Catholic Church of Vietnam, which the 1980 General Letter affirmed: "As the Church in the heart of the Vietnamese people, we are determined to be attached to the destiny of the homeland, following the national tradition and integrating into the current life of the country"; "Loving the Fatherland and loving our compatriots, for Catholics, is not only a natural sentiment but also a requirement of the gospel"; "Our patriotism must be practical, meaning that we must be aware of the current problems of our homeland, must understand the guidelines, policies and laws of the State, and actively contribute with our compatriots nationwide to protecting and building a rich, free and happy Vietnam".

I am not a Catholic, but through research I know that about 2,000 years ago, on the Jewish Passover in 33 AD, an innocent man died so that others could live. That was Jesus from Nazareth, ancient Israel. Thanks to his sacrifice, altruism and love for humanity, Jesus was honored as Christ the Savior. Throughout his life, he only cared about saving humanity, sacrificing and fighting for freedom, democracy and equality. God is the embodiment of freedom and charity. Obeying him, throughout history, Vietnamese Catholics have always accompanied and integrated into the great national unity bloc to cultivate and build a prosperous homeland and country, bringing a prosperous life to the people, including Catholics.

During the nation's war against foreign invaders, there were countless examples of Catholics sacrificing themselves for the Fatherland, for the people and also for freedom of belief; as in the letter to Doctor Vu Dinh Tung - Minister of Health and also a Catholic whose son was sacrificed, President Ho emotionally wrote: "...They are filial children of God, they have carried out the slogan: God and Fatherland. Those young men are a heroic nation. The people and the Fatherland will never forget their gratitude. You have brought the most precious gift, your children, ready to sacrifice for the Fatherland. From now on, you will surely make more efforts to help the resistance to protect the country, then my soul in heaven will also be happy...".

In peacetime, on the basis of the 1980 General Letter, the Instruction and Message of Pope Benedict XVI, the Congress of the People of God (an activity of the Catholic Church in Vietnam during the celebration of the Holy Year) issued a Message calling on Catholics to engage in activities for the happiness of their compatriots in the new situation: "Continuing the work of our ancestors, the Church today must also engage in building the country in all aspects: culture, society as well as economy and politics", "By living a life built on charity, integrity, and respect for the common good", the Vietnamese Catholic community has demonstrated that "a good Catholic is a good citizen" as Pope Benedict XVI advised with worthy contributions to the development of the homeland and the country. That spirit is also clearly demonstrated in the process of implementing the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1A - a project that "benefits the country and benefits the family". According to my friend, a member of the Compensation and Site Clearance Council, even in areas where there are still local problems such as Cau Giat Town, 42/50 households and Quynh Giang Commune have 13/33 parishioners who have understood the policy and handed over the site to the construction unit.

The act of obstructing the completion of a project of great practical significance has invisibly hindered the interests and good future of themselves and their children, as well as denied the sacrifices and contributions of the community and previous generations. Some households shared that they did so because they had to obey their “superiors”. At first, I was a bit hesitant, could obedience to “superiors” in the Catholic faith be somewhat understandable? But then, as I continued to learn to understand the matter in depth, I learned that “Obedience is a fundamental and pivotal virtue in the Church organization and in the Christian spiritual life. Many Christians only understand Obedience in the narrow sense of doing exactly what the superior tells them to do, without seeing that the purpose of Obedience is to carry out God's Will. Therefore, when one obeys only because of the law, only to please the superior, only to be praised, but not to carry out God's Will, especially when one knows that the superior's orders are not in accordance with God's Will but still obeys, then that obedience is not a virtue.”

In addition, according to Saint Francis de Sales, “Obedience is a sacrifice, brings many benefits and brings joy...." So here, the above households need to be alert to recognize whether their obedience in preventing the construction of National Highway 1A really "brings many benefits and brings joy" or is it just serving some people who take advantage of faith to carry out other schemes that even they themselves are vague about? Because of the fact that they obeyed their “superiors”, some of the above parishioners fell into a “difficult” situation, even though deep down they “really wanted to hand over the site so that the contractor could complete the construction, create favorable conditions for business and “have clean water for daily life”, but they “did not dare to disobey” and thus pushed themselves into a state of “living in fear”, “danger and misery”, “discontent and confusion”. Is it as if they were obeying “just because the law requires it” or “just because they want to please their superiors, because they want to be praised, not to carry out God’s will”?

As for me, when witnessing the above events, I thought that if “… the spirit of the Vatican II community is the spirit of openness, dialogue and integration with the social community in which one lives”, then those “superiors” who are deliberately “adding fuel to the fire” inciting parishioners to prevent the construction of key national projects have not properly fulfilled their duty of leading their flock to the direction of living the gospel in the heart of the nation to serve the happiness of their compatriots” as in the spirit of the 1980 Letter. And if using faith to force some parishioners living along National Highway 1A to obey and “keep the land” does not “bring many benefits and joy” to the parishioners, then have those “superiors” properly performed the virtue of obedience?

Hoang Tam Nhu