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LOCATION: million NUMBER OF DIOCESES: 25 CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION: HISTORY OF THE PERSECUTED: In 1954, after the defeat of Dien Bien Phu, the borders between what was to become North and South-Vietnam stayed open for three days to permit those who wanted to go the north and those who wanted to go to the south to do so. The exodus from the north to the south was enormous. Out of the 900,000 who moved, 500,000 were Catholics. In Hanoi as in the rest of North Vietnam, all convents were confiscated; the hospitals and schools knew the same fate in all the country and the staff and religious were dispelled. VIETNAM TODAY: The Church in Vietnam is still in great need of priests. Roman Catholic seminaries throughout the country have approximately 500 students enrolled. The government limits the Catholic Church to operating six major seminaries and to recruitment of new seminarians only every 2 years. All students must be approved by the government both upon entering the seminary and prior to their ordination as priests. The number of students being ordained is insufficient to support the growing Catholic population. Once ordained, priests are assigned parishes under government approval and are not free to move from parish to parish. Ordination of bishops also requires government approval. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ACN’s HELP IN VIETNAM - 1959 &1965: Fr. Werenfried Van Straaten in South East Asia. TYPES OF PROJECTS: see annex Construction and renovation projects (chapels and churches); support for the training of religious men and women; distribution of religious literature – 225,900 copies of the organization’s Child’s Bible has been distributed to date; transportation projects; catechist-training programs. CURRENT PROJECT LOCATIONS: see annex DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY ACN IN SERVING NEEDS: Some years ago, the Vietnamese bishop conference suggested we should send all correspondence by post, which we do. Most letters reach their beneficiaries. Some don’t, which might be attributed both to censorship and to the unreliable post system. Banks in Vietnam also take advantage of their situation by not informing their clients when they get money. When visiting the local Church, one feels people live their faith within strictly delimited boundaries, which foreigners cannot perceive instantaneously, hence the necessity to rely on local people. Another difficulty facing both the Church and funding agencies are the constraints on buildings. It may take years for the parish priest to get the permit to build a new church. ACN decided to fund projects that are already been given the permission so that our money would not sleep in a Vietnamese bank while awaiting the said authorization. Signs of hope: - Many vocations, both to priesthood and religious life (including contemplative religious life like Carmelite or Cistercian vocations) 10 years of ACN’s help to the Church in Vietnam Projects turned down: 493 Projects approved: 1183, including Formation (seminarians, religious sisters, on-going formation, catechetical programs) : 179 Construction: 763, of which 469 churches and chapels, 113 sisters’ convents and noviciate houses, 110 houses for catechetical buildings, 33 parish or bishop houses Transportation (motorcycles, bicycle) : 52 Pastoral material (sound system, computer, etc…) : 38 Existence help (mostly for religious sisters) : 52 Social / Caritative help : 7 Media projects : 5 Mass stipends : 53 Miscellaneous : 34 904 projects have been completed out of 1183 Lang Son 1 Total for the northern part of Vietnam : 726 |
