Catholic Community Resurrects After 50 Years
Hai Duong (Asia News/Ucan) - A Catholic community that passed from memory after French soldiers destroyed its church 50 years ago and all but one family moved away has been resurrected.
The community in Phuc Cau comes under the parish based in Ke Sat, 50 kilometers east of Ha Noi. Phuc Cau, where the former subparish has been restored and the church just rebuilt, is 10 kilometers further east.
"No one had thought about the subparish since 1953, when its church was demolished by French soldiers to make way for a sentry post," Joseph Nguyen Xuan Dich told UCA News. Dich, 54, heads the parish council.
In August 2002, however, a Catholic couple living in Phuc Cau approached the parish priest and asked him to restore the subparish and rebuild the church. Since no records of the subparish existed with the parish or diocese, the parish council had to research by interviewing elderly people in the area.
Dich said some non-Catholic residents in their 70s and 80s told him the original church, built in 1937, was demolished by French soldiers and all Catholic families except one fled south in 1954, when the country was divided into communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
Joseph Khanh, his wife and children, were the only Catholics who stayed. "We have always believed in God and waited for this day for a long time. I hope the new church will gather all of God's children who are scattered everywhere," Khanh told UCA News recently.
He said that for 50 years his family had not let the local government or others use the land that belonged to the old church.
After determining that the church and subparish had existed and belonged to Ke Sat, the parish council made a census of local Catholics that confirmed the presence of 11 Catholic families with 42 members. The parish asked Bishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hai Phong to restore the subparish.
Dich said Bishop Thien, 43, admitted he did not know about this subparish in Hai Duong province, though he had done pastoral work in the province.
The local government, also surprised at the presence of the subparish, agreed to allow the building of a church and resumption of religious activities.
Some of the 11 families in the subparish are those of Khanh's children, while others moved to Phuc Cau. Khanh said the families maintained a tradition of gathering at his house on Sundays to pray.
He said the new church building covers 90 square meters and cost 200 million dong (US,140), provided by the diocese, parish and benefactors.
Pierre Cao Van Thi, 50, lay leader in Phuc Cau, told UCA News after a Mass March 8: "We joyfully thank God for not abandoning us, his lost children. No one thought they would be able to attend a Mass here as they are doing today."
The new church will be officially consecrated on June 29, the feast of it patrons, Saints Peter and Paul.
Parish lay leaders spend two hours every evening teaching Catholics in Phuc Cau to sing hymns, read from the lectionary, participate in Mass, serve at the altar and go to Confession. For decades the only religious practice they knew was prayer, including the rosary.
According to Dich, the discovery and restoration of this small community is an encouraging achievement for the "Year of Evangelization" the Vietnam bishops declared for 2004. "We are happy to welcome back Phuc Cau subparish," he said.
Ke Sat parish, founded in 1695, has 5,240 Catholics and six subparishes, including Phuc Cau.
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24/06/2004
