Just a few days before 2009 Christmas, Catholics in Hanoi have joyfully celebrated the ordination of 14 new priests in their archdiocese. The joy has been marred by a series of break-ins at 7 churches of Hanoi and Hung Hoa. A delegation of Hanoi’s People Committee has visited and presented Christmas gifts to Archbishop of Hanoi.
In a simple yet solemn ceremony held within the Hanoi Major Seminary on Tuesday Dec. 22, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet ordained 14 new priests. Auxiliary Bishop Laurent Chu Van Minh of Hanoi, retired Bishop Joseph Nguyen Van Yen of Phat Diem, and 140 priests concelebrated the Mass with the archbishop. An estimated 5000 faithful came to attend the ceremony and share the joy.
With these ordinations, the number of priests in the archdiocese has reached to 106. Latest statistics show that the archdiocese currently has 350,000 faithful in 141 parishes. The newly ordained priests were appointed to 14 parishes of the 50 ones which have been without a pastor for decades.
As a gesture of union, all newly ordained priests celebrated their opening Mass at precisely 9h30 on Wednesday morning at their home parish. There they were joined by family, friends and fellow parishioners in giving thanks to God and to celebrate their priesthood.
At 3pm on Tuesday Dec. 22, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, deputy chairwoman of Hanoi’s People Committee led a delegation of the local government to visit and present gifts to the archbishop and his auxiliary bishop on the occasion of Christmas.
The move has been seen by Catholics as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation. Two years ago, on Jan. 25, 2008, Mrs. Hang sent an ultimatum to the prelate threatening extreme actions unless Catholic sit-in demonstrators dispersed by 5 pm the next day. Since then, her committee has often portrayed the prelate and a couple of priests in Hanoi as “troublemakers” who have been “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating followers to violate it”. Such accusations boom again on state media on the eve of the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Vietnamese communist leader Nguyen Minh Triet on Dec. 11 as justification for all recent crackdowns against the Church in the country.
To make matters worse, last Christmas representatives of the so-called “The Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” were invited to Hanoi to receive a floral arrangement presented by the same city official instead of the head of the archdiocese, Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet. This has been viewed as a blatant disregard and disrespect for the Archbishop's jurisdiction in Hanoi.
In sharp contrast, during this visit, the prelate and his flock in Hanoi were praised for their contributions and quick responses to movements launched by the government.
Responding to such an astounding turning point, Archbishop Joseph Ngo expressed his desire that the visit was not only a diplomatic gesture but a sign of “the growth of civilization and justice that much needed for such a big city like Hanoi.”
"As Christians, spirituality is something we value the most for it allows people to be bound to one another not only superficially but also from the most inner part of their hearts. We do so because we believe in the day when each one of us will eventually have to face God to be judged for what we've done in life. We are better off living our lives as straight arrows, steering away from deceptions. When you observe a Catholics outward expression, it's also a true reflection of what we truly are inside. You can rest assured that what you see is what you get. We have nothing to hide" the prelate added.
Prior to the visit, the archdiocese of Hanoi and the neighbouring diocese of Hung Hoa had denounced a seemingly organized crime in which a series of churches had been broken in. Thieves had stolen antique ciboria, chalice cups, and audio equipments from the churches of Từ Châu, Cao Mật Bến, Mai Lĩnh, Đồng Du, Mỹ Thượng, Sơn Miêng, and Đông Lao of Hanoi and Phượng Bãi, and Tình Lam of Hung Hoa. These churches were reportedly burglarized during the third week of Advent. Church goers who arrived for Mass on Sunday morning Dec. 20 were in tears when they saw what had happened. Tabernacles were broken and consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion were thrown all over the ground. At least two churches reported that burglars had also got away with religious statues and other artefacts.
In a simple yet solemn ceremony held within the Hanoi Major Seminary on Tuesday Dec. 22, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet ordained 14 new priests. Auxiliary Bishop Laurent Chu Van Minh of Hanoi, retired Bishop Joseph Nguyen Van Yen of Phat Diem, and 140 priests concelebrated the Mass with the archbishop. An estimated 5000 faithful came to attend the ceremony and share the joy.With these ordinations, the number of priests in the archdiocese has reached to 106. Latest statistics show that the archdiocese currently has 350,000 faithful in 141 parishes. The newly ordained priests were appointed to 14 parishes of the 50 ones which have been without a pastor for decades.
As a gesture of union, all newly ordained priests celebrated their opening Mass at precisely 9h30 on Wednesday morning at their home parish. There they were joined by family, friends and fellow parishioners in giving thanks to God and to celebrate their priesthood.
At 3pm on Tuesday Dec. 22, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, deputy chairwoman of Hanoi’s People Committee led a delegation of the local government to visit and present gifts to the archbishop and his auxiliary bishop on the occasion of Christmas.
The move has been seen by Catholics as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation. Two years ago, on Jan. 25, 2008, Mrs. Hang sent an ultimatum to the prelate threatening extreme actions unless Catholic sit-in demonstrators dispersed by 5 pm the next day. Since then, her committee has often portrayed the prelate and a couple of priests in Hanoi as “troublemakers” who have been “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating followers to violate it”. Such accusations boom again on state media on the eve of the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Vietnamese communist leader Nguyen Minh Triet on Dec. 11 as justification for all recent crackdowns against the Church in the country.
To make matters worse, last Christmas representatives of the so-called “The Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” were invited to Hanoi to receive a floral arrangement presented by the same city official instead of the head of the archdiocese, Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet. This has been viewed as a blatant disregard and disrespect for the Archbishop's jurisdiction in Hanoi.
In sharp contrast, during this visit, the prelate and his flock in Hanoi were praised for their contributions and quick responses to movements launched by the government.
Responding to such an astounding turning point, Archbishop Joseph Ngo expressed his desire that the visit was not only a diplomatic gesture but a sign of “the growth of civilization and justice that much needed for such a big city like Hanoi.”
"As Christians, spirituality is something we value the most for it allows people to be bound to one another not only superficially but also from the most inner part of their hearts. We do so because we believe in the day when each one of us will eventually have to face God to be judged for what we've done in life. We are better off living our lives as straight arrows, steering away from deceptions. When you observe a Catholics outward expression, it's also a true reflection of what we truly are inside. You can rest assured that what you see is what you get. We have nothing to hide" the prelate added.
Prior to the visit, the archdiocese of Hanoi and the neighbouring diocese of Hung Hoa had denounced a seemingly organized crime in which a series of churches had been broken in. Thieves had stolen antique ciboria, chalice cups, and audio equipments from the churches of Từ Châu, Cao Mật Bến, Mai Lĩnh, Đồng Du, Mỹ Thượng, Sơn Miêng, and Đông Lao of Hanoi and Phượng Bãi, and Tình Lam of Hung Hoa. These churches were reportedly burglarized during the third week of Advent. Church goers who arrived for Mass on Sunday morning Dec. 20 were in tears when they saw what had happened. Tabernacles were broken and consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion were thrown all over the ground. At least two churches reported that burglars had also got away with religious statues and other artefacts.