Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - "Youth in line, knocking on the monastery doors, for a radical choice of consecration. This is Vietnam 2010." This is what is read in a note from Father Luigi De Giambattista of the Congregation of the Servants of Charity - Opera Don Guanella. He continues: "The Church, since 1975, can operate only within the parish: there is no school, hospital or orphanage that can be entrusted to her. But, this has not prevented her from tackling poverty .... spiritual poverty included. Young people come for catechetical courses and training. There are a hundred every Sunday in the parish of Saigon alone, carrying out vocational discernment. They spend the whole day there, bringing their lunch with them. In the afternoon, there are four hours of confessions. There has been a recent request from the Vietnamese government in Saigon to the Cardinal, Archbishop Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man, to put together a team that takes care of AIDS patients. The Church responded with an inter-congregational team working on the border with Cambodia. In Vietnam, to spread initial knowledge of the charism of the founder of Guanelliani, love and care for the poor especially the most abandoned, they try to meet the needs of those living in poverty. The youth are especially invited and we accompany those who 'fall in love' [with the Lord] through the path of formation that will lead them to become a missionary...and make all things new," concludes Father De Giambattista. The Servants of Charity are dedicated in particular to the ministry of charity among people with mental disabilities and among elderly, children, and young people.
(AP) (Agenzia Fides 10/2/2010)
