Xuan Loc diocese dedicates Lent to family pastoral care
Xuan Loc (AsiaNews ) - More than 200 parishes and religious communities in the diocese of Xuan Loc , a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City (southern Vietnam) celebrate Ash Wednesday , the first day of Lent today with the universal Church. The diocese has organized a series of events, including retreats and prayer times for parents, children, young people, Catholic doctors, teachers, traders and businessmen. To help people best prepare for this time of prayer and fasting in preparation for Easter, the Diocesan Pastoral Committee for the Family organized a seminar for religious and laity, which was held February 24 to 27 . The initiative is part of the events scheduled for this 2014 dedicated by the Vietnamese bishops' conference to "Evangelization of the families".
The participants shared their knowledge on the subject of pastoral activities of the family, bringing to light the priorities and immediate needs. Father Joseph Hà Đăng Định, head of the Pastoral Committee of the Diocese for the Family, led the working group and gathered the views of priests and faithful, inviting the laity to cooperate in the mission of the Church. Sister Trần Thị Giồng, who has a doctorate in psychology and specializes in social support, explains that "Vietnamese Catholic families show how parents and children often suffer too much influence [negative] of material goods. This is why their life and faith seem to cloud over, particularly among young people".
The diocese of Xuan Loc consists
of approximately 2.5 million people, of which nearly 900 thousand are of the
Catholic faith. There
are 405 priests, while there are more than 2,100 religious - men and women. As
in the rest of the country, the local Church leaders have expressed deep
interest and participation in the life of the primary nucleus of the Vietnamese
society under the motto "The family living and proclaiming the Gospel".
A
recent study has shown that, in general, Catholic families in the diocese
cultivate faith in the context of everyday life. They
maintain traditional values, go to church every day and participate in the
various initiatives. For
this reason, since last year the bishops and priests have turned their attentions
towards doctors, teachers, professionals, integrating them into the pastoral
activity of the diocese. In
fact, they play a primary and "special" role in the missionary task
of the Church.
The
growing materialism, consumerism and individualism of recent years have deeply undermined
Vietnamese society and the traditional family values at its core. Sister
M. Th is an expert on marriage and family issues. She explains that parishes can help people to
"avoid the risks linked to the severing of ties, strengthening devotion,
cultivating faith by participating in activities, innovating their life and
promoting evangelization".
Out
of Vietnam's 87 million people, 48 per cent are Buddhists, more than 7 per cent
are Catholics, 5.6 per cent follow syncretistic religions and 20 per cent are atheist.
As a small, albeit significant minority, the Christian community is
particularly active in education, health and social affairs. In recent years,
religious freedom has steadily eroded. Under Decree 92, more controls and
restrictions have been imposed on religious practice, increasingly subjected to
the whims of the Communist Party and the one-party state.
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