Warsaw, January 29, 2010
L.dz. 33/01/10
Very Reverend Father Vincent Phạm Trung Thành, C.Ss.R.
Vietnam
Dear Father Provincial,
On behalf of all the Confreres of the Province of Warsaw I would like to express our solidarity and support toward the Vietnamese Confreres. The history of my country allows me to understand perfectly your present situation. My country, just like yours today, went through the time of discrimination of the most fundamental human rights like: religion freedom and similar.
Our guide toward freedom was John Paul II. We still remember his words spoken in Gdansk in 1987, in which he defined a proper model of social relations. His words were connected with the words of Saint Paul from the letter to Galatians: Bear one another's burdens (Ga 6, 2). He said: Solidarity means to bear one another's burdens. And that burden has to be carried together, in community. So it means that this burden should never be carried one against the other. It also means that the man who carries this burden should never be abandoned in his loneliness.
We are united with you during this difficult time. We know about discriminations and persecutions that are directed against you and the Catholic Church by the State Authorities in Vietnam. Once again let us remember John Paul II and his words expressed on January 1, 1988 during the celebration of the World Day of Peace: In the first place, religious freedom, an essential requirement of the dignity of every person, is a cornerstone of the structure of human rights, and for this reason an irreplaceable factor in the good of individuals and of the whole of society (…) Moreover, every violation of religious freedom, whether open or hidden, does fundamental damage to the cause of peace.
Please give my regards to Brother Anthony, who was beaten by the police in the last days. Assure him about my support and prayer.
As the results of the recent persecutions taking place in your country we decided to start a “campaign of information” about the situation of the Catholic Church in Vietnam.
As the Province of Warsaw, in a special way, we would like to remember our Vietnamese Confreres on February 2, 2010. On that day in all the Redemptorists communities in Poland we will pray for you during the Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Moreover, a day later, together with all the member of the Provincial Chapter, we will pray for you during the Eucharist.
We hope that the day of freedom for the Church in Vietnam is near. I pray for that together with my Confreres and I entrust your Province to the intersession of the Servant of God, Marcel Van.
In Christ the Redeemer
Fr. Ryszard Bożek, C.Ss.R.
Provincial Superior of the Province of Warsaw
L.dz. 33/01/10
Very Reverend Father Vincent Phạm Trung Thành, C.Ss.R.
Vietnam
Dear Father Provincial,
On behalf of all the Confreres of the Province of Warsaw I would like to express our solidarity and support toward the Vietnamese Confreres. The history of my country allows me to understand perfectly your present situation. My country, just like yours today, went through the time of discrimination of the most fundamental human rights like: religion freedom and similar.
Our guide toward freedom was John Paul II. We still remember his words spoken in Gdansk in 1987, in which he defined a proper model of social relations. His words were connected with the words of Saint Paul from the letter to Galatians: Bear one another's burdens (Ga 6, 2). He said: Solidarity means to bear one another's burdens. And that burden has to be carried together, in community. So it means that this burden should never be carried one against the other. It also means that the man who carries this burden should never be abandoned in his loneliness.
We are united with you during this difficult time. We know about discriminations and persecutions that are directed against you and the Catholic Church by the State Authorities in Vietnam. Once again let us remember John Paul II and his words expressed on January 1, 1988 during the celebration of the World Day of Peace: In the first place, religious freedom, an essential requirement of the dignity of every person, is a cornerstone of the structure of human rights, and for this reason an irreplaceable factor in the good of individuals and of the whole of society (…) Moreover, every violation of religious freedom, whether open or hidden, does fundamental damage to the cause of peace.
Please give my regards to Brother Anthony, who was beaten by the police in the last days. Assure him about my support and prayer.
As the results of the recent persecutions taking place in your country we decided to start a “campaign of information” about the situation of the Catholic Church in Vietnam.
As the Province of Warsaw, in a special way, we would like to remember our Vietnamese Confreres on February 2, 2010. On that day in all the Redemptorists communities in Poland we will pray for you during the Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Moreover, a day later, together with all the member of the Provincial Chapter, we will pray for you during the Eucharist.
We hope that the day of freedom for the Church in Vietnam is near. I pray for that together with my Confreres and I entrust your Province to the intersession of the Servant of God, Marcel Van.
In Christ the Redeemer
Fr. Ryszard Bożek, C.Ss.R.
Provincial Superior of the Province of Warsaw