VIETNAMESE NEWS
tvc.dsj.org | January 22, 2019
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Vatican And Vietnam to Upgrade Ties
ucanews.com reporter
atican and ietnamese officials
have agreed to upgrade relations
through the appointment in the near
future of a permanent papal repre-
sentative to Hanoi.
A Vatican delegation for a De-
cember 18-20 visit, during which the
agreement was reached, was led by
Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, under-
secretary for relations with states.
One of the aims of the talks was
to help resolve bitter disputes over
confiscated church ro erties.
The Vatican delegation included
senior Vietnamese prelates and Arch-
bishop Marek Zalewski, non-resident
ontifical re resentative to ietnam.
The Vietnamese delegation was
led by Deputy Foreign Minister Bui
Thanh Son.
Father Joseph Dao Nguyen Vu,
head of the Office of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, said
in a statement that two sides “agreed
to take detailed steps to raise their
diplomatic relationships from the
level of non-resident envoy to resident
envoy to Vietnam.”
The Vatican started to send a non-
resident ontifical re resentative to
Vietnam in 2011, long after Vietnam
cut off di lomatic ties with the oly
See in 1975.
Archbishop Zalewski is the second
non-resident ontifical re resentative
to the Southeast Asian country.
Some church sources said that
the local church’s former facilities
and ro erties that were confiscat-
ed by the government constituted on-
going obstacles to improving bilateral
ties. The communist government has
confiscated church-run schools, hos-
pitals, churches and other facilities.
The Holy See wants Vietnam to
return all former church properties
while the government only envisages
Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Monsignor
Antoine Camilleri, Archbishop Joseph Vu
Van Thien and a Vatican official pose for a
photo at Hanoi Archbishop’s House.
giving back a few of them.
Sources said during their talks,
bot h delegat ion s a lso approved
episcopal candidates for Ho Chi
Minh City Archdiocese and Phan
Phiet Diocese.
The country’s most active arch-
diocese has been vacant since Arch-
bishop Paul Bui Van Doc passed away
in March. The latter diocese has been
vacant since Bishop Joseph Vu Duy
Thong died in 2017.
Sou rces sa id t he Vat ica n a nd
Viet nam agreed to create a new
diocese which will be separated from
Vinh Diocese in north central Viet-
nam. Vinh Diocese serves more than
550,000 Catholics in three provinces.
Father Vu said during their three-
day visit to Vietnam, Vatican del-
egates also met with Prime Minister
guyen uan huc and officials from
the Government Committee for Reli-
gious ffairs, which controls all re-
ligious organizations in the country.
He said the Vatican visitors met
with Vietnamese bishops, and at-
tended the installation of the newly-
elected Archbishop Joseph Vu Van
Thien of Hanoi.
Redemptorists A Godsend for Vietnamese War Veterans
ucanews.com reporter
Vietnamese war veterans who lost
their limbs and loved ones over four
decades ago are getting a dose of
Christmas this year from the chari-
table endeavors of Redemptorists ac-
tive in the country.
They are helping these former sol-
diers who fought for South Vietnam
restore some of their dignity more
than 40 years after the Vietnam War
left many of them facing a financially
crippled and emotionally scarred
future.
“We will hold Christmas celebra-
tions and offer gifts to ,
elderly,
battle-scarred soldiers throughout
southern Vietnam from December
26-28 and on New Year’s Eve,” Father
Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh, head of the
Redemptorist-run Justice and Peace
ffice, told ucanews.com.
Many of the veterans suffered
greatly during the nation’s civil war,
which later spilled out into an inter-
national con ict with hina and the
Soviet Union backing North Vietnam
and the United States and its allies
throwing its support behind the
South.
American war vets have given hun-
dreds of bicycles to poor Vietnamese
children in rural areas this year to ease
their plight and show their empathy
des ite suffering themselves during
edemptorist priests and V ietnamese w ar veterans pose for a photo in early 2 0 1 8
the war.
Fat her Than h said t he elderly
Vietnamese would assemble at the
Redemptorists’ headquarters in Ho
Chi Minh City and talk about the situ-
ation they now find themselves in, as
well as the state of their health and
other subjects.
As part of the healing process,
and at a time of year when many el-
derly feel alone, they will review their
shared past, sing carols and traditional
Vietnamese folk songs, play games
and eat together.
“We are tr ying to bring some
Christmas joy to those neglected sol-
diers because Jesus was born into the
world to save all people, especially
the marginalized,” Father Thanh said.
Such events are not something the
communist government generally en-
dorses, but social welfare groups say
they serve a crucial role.
While Christmas decorations grace
the lo ies of five-star hotels in anoi
and Ho Chi Minh City at this time of
year, the country is still officially athe-
ist with gaps yet to be plugged when
it comes to taking care of the elderly
and others who exist on the fringes
of society.
This year, the veterans will receive
travel expenses of around US$65 each.
The Redemptorists were able to raise
enough funding from domestic and
overseas-based benefactors to cover
the costs of the activities scheduled for
December, which the church estimates
will end up costing a total of 14 billion
dong (US$603,000).
Fat her Tha n h said volu nteers
would visit the homes of elderly sol-
diers who are too frail or otherwise
physically unable to make it to the
church’s headquarters, bringing them
gifts and giving them comfort.
e said this year his office has of-
fered nearly 5,530 injured veterans
food, money, healthcare insurance,
medical checkups, treatment costs,
reading glasses, wheelchairs, walking
sticks, crutches and prosthetic limbs.
The more fortunate, or most in
need, may be given somewhere to
stay or have their homes repaired at
the Redemptorists’ expense. All of the
veterans whose relatives have passed
away are given basic shelter in the city.
“Our activities aim to help these
soldiers regain their self-esteem and
gain public recognition for their sac-
rifices so that they can feel roud of
their service,” the priest said.