EUROPE/SPAIN - “Vietnam. Hunger for bread, thirst for God.”: campaign organized by Aid to the Church in Need, for formation projects and construction of new Church structures in Vietnam

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – The Association of Pontifical Right “Aid to the Church in Need” is performing a campaign from October until December 25, promoting awareness and solidarity for the Catholic Church in Vietnam, with the theme: “Vietnam.Hunger for bread, thirst for God.”
With this campaign, the ACN is trying to spread awareness of the situation of Catholics in the Asian country and finance various aid projects, especially in the central and southern regions of the country. The solidarity of those who collaborate in the campaign will result in projects for the formation of religious, support for priests (especially the elderly), the building of Churches, and more.
The majority of the projects to be financed are linked to the formation of young priests, seminarians, novices, and catechists, as the Church in Vietnam, which had been deprived of new priests and religious for some time, is now seeing a vocation boom and thus, the need for resources in building seminaries and novitiates, in awarding scholarships for seminarians and novices, as well as for the education of professors in philosophy and theology. In addition, they also hope to finance the construction of churches and parish complexes. Many of the buildings are being returned to the Church little by little, however they are in need of restoration and many areas in the north and south are without churches. Lastly, the campaign hopes to promote the support of elderly and retired priests, many of whom have led a heroic life of self-surrender in the midst of persecutions and grave suffering.
Among the projects is one for covering the costs for the formation of 37 novices from the Dominican Sisters of Saint Rose of Lima, a local congregation that is opening small communities in parishes in the most needy areas of the country, especially in the north and in the Highlands, where they oversee catechesis for children and young people and attend to the most needy: the sick, orphans, and immigrants. There is also a project for financing the formation of 102 sisters from the same order (for the 2008-2009 academic year) in the Saint Thomas Theological Institute in Ho Chi Minh City. Another project consists in building a formation house for novices from the Congregation of the Daughters of Blessed Mother Mary, in Can Tho, whose apostolate is to care for the poor. There will also be scholarships for the formation of young catechists in Hanoi. There are also plans for the construction of a new church on the Island of Can Tho, in Cam Phe, in the Diocese of Haiphong, the construction of a multi-purpose center for the parish in Thuan Nhon (Diocese of Hue), and the construction of a residence for sick and elderly priests, also in Hue. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 17/10/2008)