HANOI (UCAN):Young Catholics attending the 18th Northern Youth Gathering in northern Vietnam were called on to live out and present their faith in the context of Vietnamese culture. More than 15,000 young people from 11 dioceses attended the November 26 to 26 event, hosted by the Diocese of Hung Hoa at the ancient Hung Temple in Phu Tho province. They were joined by youth groups from five southern dioceses.
Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hanoi said that returning to the ancestral land of the Hung kings, they have a duty to live out and present the Catholic faith.
During the two-day gathering, participants watched the history local of the development, listened to talks about going to the periphery and synodality, honoured the cross, went to confession, attended Mass, and gave cultural performances from their own regions.
Archbishop Vu said that evangelisation is not just about to bringing new members to the faith, but also showing a positive, lively, joyful image of the Church.
The deputy secretary general of Vietnamese Bishops Conference said that Hung Hoa, which is the country’s largest diocese in terms of territory—covering nine provinces and part of Hanoi, along with 31 ethnic groups—is in great need of evangelisation so young people should go and meet followers of other faiths and tell them about Jesus.
Father Joseph Nguyen Ngoc Ngoan, who began serving Catholic communities in Dien Bien province in 2016, said some sub-parishes are 600 kilometres away from his home. He explained that the local Church seeks to instill the spirit of the gospel into the people and their realities
Also present at the gathering themed, Go to the periphery, were Singapore-based Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the non-resident representative of the Holy See to Vietnam, together a dozen local archbishops and bishops, and hundreds of priests.
Father Joseph Nguyen Ngoc Ngoan, who began serving Catholic communities in Dien Bien province in 2016, said some sub-parishes are 600 kilometres away from his home. He explained that the local Church seeks to instill the spirit of the gospel into the people and their realities.
Thomas Tran Van Nam from the Diocese of Bui Chu said tjhat he greatly admired and respected priests and religious who endure dreadful hardship to bring Christian values to people in remote areas of Hung Hoa.
“I will pray hard for the region of evangelisation and go to work there after my college graduation,” said the 18-year-old student, who attended the gathering for the first time.
Twenty-one-year-old Mary Dang Thi Vui, from Yen Bai province, observed that not everyone can work with people in remote areas but they should improve their faith life and live in harmony with the people around them.
“I will limit myself from surfing social media and spend more time praying for evangelisation work, caring for my family members and catechising children at my parish,” Dang said.
The gathering was called off two times between 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some 11 northern dioceses take turns holding the annual gathering, which was initiated by the late Bishop Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh in 2002.
The next gathering will be hosted by the Diocese of Bac Ninh.
