by J.B. Vu

Diocese of Ban Me Thuot prepares over 50 catechists to give spiritual guidance to thousands of young Montagnards of the Central Highlands region, among the poorest areas of the country. They are added to the 3400 lay people who help the priests in the work of evangelization.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - The Diocese of Ban Me Thuot, is preparing over 50 lay catechists to give spiritual guidance to thousands of children and people in the mountains of the Highlands region. The formation includes two years of lessons on Christian ministry, catechism of the Church and ethics. The first phase of the course was completed last April 17. In addition to the future catechists’ there are over 3400 committed laity in evangelization in remote areas of the diocese, where they already are about 150 priests.  

In the era of economic development of Vietnam, there are still many families living in miserable conditions in remote areas of the country. Because of the continuing population growth, there are tens of thousands of young people seeking spiritual help to give meaning to their lives.  

"I thank the participants of this formation course - said, Fr. Stephano Nguyen Van Dau, head of the catechism of the diocese - They work for the mission, taking the name of God and the good news to the still wild areas of our diocese".

The territory of the Diocese of Ban Me Thuot, counts about 2.5 million people, it is divided into 40 ethnic groups. Of these about 10% are Catholic and the figure is growing. In 2009 more than 22 thousand people received baptism including infants, children and adults and 3, 960 young couples were accompanied in their preparations for marriage, thanks to the joint work of priests and laity.

• vietnam
• lay
• people
• evangilisation
• montagnards
• catholic
• church
• formation