Honoring Catholics who "fear God and love their country"
“Living the gospel in the heart of the nation to serve the happiness of our compatriots” – that direction of Catholics is always continued and spread.
Today (October 12), the capital Hanoi is the gathering place of 400 priests, monks and lay people in an event held every five years: the 7th Congress of Vietnamese Catholics for Building and Defending the Fatherland.
One of the important contents of the Congress is to honor exemplary Catholics with specific and practical actions, who are contributing day by day, hour by hour to building the homeland and country.
|
| Priest Gioan Baotixita Nguyen Tan Sang in My Tho City, Tien Giang not only opened a 2,000 VND rice shop for the poor but also actively did charity work. Photo: Vietnam Catholic Solidarity Committee |
In the emulation movements of Catholics, there have been many typical examples such as priest Nguyen Ngoc Phi in Da Nang. In addition to his work as a priest, he is also a musician, writer, poet, Catholic translator and a Vietnamese record holder, composing more than 300 fables, more than 500 songs, mainly religious music. In 2017, the priest was honored to receive a certificate of merit and the cup "Outstanding Vietnamese Intellectual of the Ho Chi Minh era". Or, parishioner Tran Van Kieu in Bui Chu-Nam Dinh diocese. With his bold investment in waste treatment technology, he has become one of the young talents met by the President and honored with the title "Entrepreneur of the Ho Chi Minh era" ....
There are many other examples of Catholics who are silently spreading their fragrance, quietly contributing to life with the spirit of "respecting God and loving the country". 7 million Catholics, present in all parts of the country, participate in almost all areas of economic and social life. They are a part of the nation, blending into the flow of the nation, wishing for the country to develop, for the people to have a prosperous life because "when the country is glorious, the religion will shine".
|
| Phuong Chinh Parish Church, Hai Trieu Commune, Hai Hau, Nam Dinh. |
Somewhere, priests and parishioners still have prejudices and do not really cooperate with the government, but that is only a very small number.
“Living the gospel in the heart of the nation to serve the happiness of the people” – that direction of Catholics has always been continued and spread. As the second largest religion in Vietnam after Buddhism, whether in the past or present, the State has always respected and created conditions for Catholicism to develop. That is demonstrated through the increase in followers as well as training schools, charitable and humanitarian establishments of Catholics. With the same goal, looking in the same direction, whether religious or non-religious, there will never be a gap./.
