by J.B. Vu

Clergy training has always been a priority for the Church in Vietnam. It has always promoted it, sometimes creatively, in all sorts of social situations. Today non-Catholics acknowledge and appreciate the work priests and nuns put in on behalf of orphans, the elderly, the poor and the sick.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Training the clergy is very important in Vietnam’s current social conditions, a situation that underscores the Church’s missionary vocation, this according to some Catholics who spoke to AsiaNews. “If we have a good and well-prepared priest, we can work and help thousands of people every day,” they said. Similarly, “If the priest goes to heaven, thousands of people go with him, but if he goes to hell, so do thousands.”

Clergy training remains a major concern for the Catholic Church. So far, it has been able to pursue its goal in every situation, both formally and informally. Given different situations in the various dioceses, bishops have been creative and found ways to offer training courses. Local churches have set up “underground classes” and offer “mobile theological courses” to train small groups at the parish level.

In 2005, training was unified. In 2007, the Bishops’ Conference laid down guidelines, its Ratio Institutions Sacerdotalis, which the Holy See ratified it and promulgated in 2010, the Jubilee Year.

Its focus rests on the “right motivation” and “good will” for vocation. The goal is to provide priests with the means to deal with the faithful in terms of four factors, namely humanity, spirituality, knowledge and pastoral activities.

In the current situation, people must heed what Pope Pius X said, “We should express compassion to the spiritual suffering of the many victims of modern atheistic theories. Young people are especially growing up in ignorance and even aversion towards God. It is a necessary and urgent duty that everyone be enlightened for the energetic missionary to create large groups of disciples as the Church had in its beginning.”

Today in Vietnam, when talking about Catholicism, non-Catholics say they feel close to “mấy cha và các sơ”, some priest or nun. Why? Because most Vietnamese priests and nuns work and help those close to them.

All charity and community activities at the parish level are in favour of the poor, the elderly, and the sick, at both the community and individual levels. Indeed, nuns and their congregations have a history of helping orphans, lepers and people living with AIDS.

• vietnam
• church
• missionary
• vocation
• priestly
• education
• training