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Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The of Hue, Bishop Josep Nguen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa, and dozens of bishops and priests from various dioceses in Vietnam concelebrated on March 1 the re-establishment of the congregation of Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres in Hanoi.
The congregation of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres is an international, missionary congregation founded by Fr.Louis, parish priest of Levesville-la-Chenard, a small village in France. Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres arrived in Vietnam in 1860 when the Church in the country was being suffered harsh persecutions under the kingdom of Tu Duc (1847-1883).
They had established a congregation in Hanoi in 1883, near the end of the period of 261 years from 1625 to 1886 when 130,000 Catholics were killed throughout the country.
They taught children about God, visited the sick, and helped patients at hospitals. Despite of wave after wave of persecutions, quietly they sowed the seeds of the Kingdom of God, hoping that they would grow, blossom, and produce much fruit.
Unfortunately, after the communist takeover of the North in 1954, all their missions in Hanoi had to be abandoned due to the extreme hostility towards Catholics of the new regime.
In his sermon, Archbishop Joseph Ngo encouraged those attending the ceremony to join him in “praising the Lord for testimonies of unwavering faith of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres. Their properties were confiscated one by one. Area of the remaining ones got smaller and smaller. Their number reduced, some dead, others in jail. Despite all those, the Sisters kept serving people with all their hearts.”