HANOI (UCAN): Polish Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the Vatican’s first resident papal nuncio to Vietnam, arrived in Hanoi on January 31. The 60-year-old, a seasoned diplomat, was welcomed at the Hanoi Archbishop’s House by 16 bishops and scores of priests, religious and seminarians.
Archbishop Marek told them: “I am here to serve the Catholic Church in Vietnam.” He will temporarily work from the Pan Pacific Hotel in the capital city.
A priest from a northwestern province said local people are delighted that the first papal envoy will reside in the country after nearly half a century.
He said that Archbishop Marek will have opportunities to connect the local Church with the Holy See and better understand the life of local religious communities.
“He will know how to deal with challenges and problems facing the local Church because he is from Poland, which was ruled by communists,” the priest said on condition of anonymity.
He said the province is home to some 3,000 Catholics, around two-thirds of them Hmong villagers.
We hope that Archbishop Marek understands our condition and works with the government to allow us to build a chapel to hold our religious activities soon
Francis Xavier Ho Sung
“We fully expect Archbishop Marek to visit ethnic communities in remote areas and make their voice heard,” said the priest, who has served Hmong villagers for years.
He said many parishes and mission stations are not recognised by local government authorities, so they could not build new facilities to meet their increasing religious need.
Francis Xavier Ho Sung, an ethnic Van Kieu, said local Catholics are regularly prevented from gathering to attend Masses celebrated by visiting priests at their houses as their community is not approved by the government.
Ho, who is a lay missionary, said his sub-parish in Quang Tri province’s Dakrong district has 17 families with 56 members.
“We hope that Archbishop Marek understands our condition and works with the government to allow us to build a chapel to hold our religious activities soon,” he said, adding that Catholics try to live a good life and obey laws so they deserve to be given good opportunities to practice their faith.
We fully expect Archbishop Marek to visit ethnic communities in remote areas and make their voice heard
A priest from a northwestern province
Paul Hoang Ngoc Bong from Vinh Linh district said old people still wear crosses around their necks and maintain their faith practice by reciting the rosary daily at home since there has been no church in the district for the past 50 years.
Hoang observed that all former Church facilities were confiscated and local Catholics were banned from gathering for prayers. Priests and religious from other places are not allowed to visit them.
Hoang, who converted to Catholicism when he got married in 1984, said his family members attend Masses on Sundays at Nam Tay church in the neighbouring district of Gio Linh. They travel by motorbike and stay at their relatives’ homes.
“We hope the papal envoy will hear our voice and work with the government to send a priest to offer pastoral care to us soon,” he said.
In 1959, the then apostolic delegate, Bishop John Dooley, was expelled from Hanoi.
The number of Catholics in Vietnam is estimated to be seven million, including 8,000 priests and 41 active bishops out of a population of about 97.5 million. The Vietnamese Church has 3,000 parishes, 7,700 other facilities, and 11 seminaries.
