VATICAN - Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation, on a pastoral visit in Vietnam

Monday, 19 January 2015

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples arrives in Vietnam today for a pastoral visit. After accompanying the Holy Father in his apostolic visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, the Prefect of the Congregation will go to Vietnam, accepting the invitation of the Episcopal Conference, where he will have several meetings, from north to south, with Bishops, priests, religious men and women, seminarians and people of God.
During his visit, Cardinal. Filoni will meet the Conference of Bishops, priests, representatives of the dioceses of the province of Hanoi on January 20, and preside the concelebrated Mass in the Cathedral. On January 21 he will visit a parish of the Diocese of Hung Hoa, characterized by the presence of ethnic minorities, and on January 22 he will go to the Marian Shrine of La Vang, where Our Lady appeared in 1798, in order to entrust the path of evangelization in the world and in particular in Vietnam to the Virgin.
On Friday, January 23, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples will visit the parish of Hoi An, the oldest remaining city in Vietnam today, with over 400 years of Christianity. In fact, on January 18, 1615, two Jesuits, accompanied by some Japanese Christians, landed in the port of Hoi An and began their missionary work in this area. He will then celebrate Mass for the 50th anniversary of the Diocese in the pastoral center of Da Nang, thus concluding two jubilee years (2013-2015), and the 400th anniversary of the evangelization of Vietnam. During the celebration he will administer the sacraments of Christian initiation to fifty adult catechumens.
The following day, January 24, Cardinal Filoni will preside over a solemn Mass in the Cathedral of Xuan Loc, for the 50th anniversary of this diocese. On Sunday, January 25, the Mass in the Cathedral of Saigon, followed by the meeting with priests, religious men and women and lay people, a visit to St. Joseph Major Seminary and to a missionary place will conclude Card. Filoni’s pastoral visit. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 19/01/2015)


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