by J.B. Vu

In the year for priests, Catholics look to the figure of the priest in their country, committed to their pastoral duties, but also to social work. The engagement of a priest who had as a master the then Fr. Francesco Saverio Nguyen Van Thuan during the drama of the war, and still today.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) – The Year for Priests launched by Benedict XVI urges Vietnams’ Catholics to rediscover the most significant figures among their priests.  In Vietnamese “father” is “Cha” meaning he who is responsible for all members of the family. But this family is not just the restricted community of faithful: it extends throughout society.  The Vietnamese priest is educated to care not only for the Christians but for all categories of society.  During the ordination of a presbyterate in the diocese of Nha Trang, Msgr. Vo Duc Minh speaking to the candidate said : “You are not only required to engage in pastoral activities but you must also work for the people and to change society for the better….You are priest…. You can go up to anyone and smile with them. All good things shall start from here”

Among the many people who are witnesses of this is Fr. Anthony Nguyen Ngoc Son, secretary General of the Vietnam Bishops Conference. Fr. Son was born on October 14th 1948, in Hanoi and as a young seminarian in former Saigon, he was taught about “integration into society”. From 1965 to 1975, Fr. Son studied at the Pontificate College Pius X in Da Lat, but he always found time to attend social groups, volunteer for pastoral activities and visit patients in hospitals. Every summer vacation, he also visited poor families and taught at high school in Da lat City. To encounter and educate young people he even started a monthly magazine, the “Lua Hong” which sells over 200 copies throughout the nation.  For smaller children he founded the monthly comic called “the small pine tree”.

Fr. Son, who was ordained a priest in 1974, has also had to face difficult social and political situations in Vietnam during the war, with people who fled the dangerous areas and the poverty and famine that ensued.

On his return to Saigon he worked with Caritas, caring for the victims of the war, the homeless and the poor.  Caritas Vietnam was founded in 1961.  From ’64 to ’75 he had to take on many war emergencies: refugees fleeing from the North towards the South, food, medicine, social programmes and integration.  At that time Caritas was led nu Fr. Francesco Saverio Nguyen Van Thuan (who later became cardinal), who founded an entire village called “Dong Tam Camp”, in Binh Tuy province, to house and care for the refugees.  The then Fr. Van Thuan even opened a school to teach Vietnamese social work. This school elaborated useful projects for economic and social development.

Not all of these projects were crowned by success.  For example the project “Social Credit”, through which people could receive loans to start up their own businesses.  It did not have a positive outcome: almost none of the beneficiaries paid back their loans.

Caritas Vietnam has become increasingly aware that social activities are not enough: there is also the need to communicate the love of God to the people they meet.

Fr. Son is very committed in this direction helping priests, religious sisters and lay people rediscover the value of serving the poor and announcing the Gospel.

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• work