tvc.dsj.org | February 5, 2019 VIETNAMESE NEWS
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Christian Values with a Vietnamese Twist On Show
Private collection of books pays tribute to missionaries who bridged cultures with written works
A Christian book collection as-
sembled by a Catholic diocese in
southern Vietnam aims to promote
Christian values while also preserv-
ing elements of the national culture.
Some 60 people including book
collectors and writers attended the
opening ceremony of the Christian
Cultural Materials Exhibition held
at Hanoi’s Archdiocese’s Exhibition
House on January 15.
Father Joseph Nguyen Huu Triet,
head of the archdiocesan ministry
committee of culture, said the goal
was to raise public awareness of the
importance of preserving texts au-
thored by local Christians.
M a ny i mp or t a nt work s h ave
already been lost or damaged, and
more are at risk of getting lost in the
annals of history in the digital era
as people ditch old printed works
in favor of e-books, Catholic collec-
tors say.
Fat her Tr ie t, who s e hobby i s
amassing antiques, said Christian
books have made a great contribu-
tion to developing national cultures
and traditions, for example through
the work of missionaries in helping
to bridge different languages by
creating dictionaries.
He reca l led how Cat hol ics i n
Vietnam worked with foreign mis-
sionaries to create the Vietnamese
a lphab et, a sc r ipt ba s ed on t he
Latin alphabet that is known as chu
quoc ngu, or the “national language
script.”
The newly created alphabet, like
the Catholic works that drew on it,
was originally used as a vehicle to
promote the Catholic faith to Viet-
namese back in the 17th century.
More recently, the Church pub-
lished a dictionary of Catholic terms
in Vietnamese in 2016 to help people
understand the Christian faith, evan-
gelize and avoid misunderstandings.
And this year a diocese in north-
west Vietnam launched a language
course for ethnic-Hmong Catho-
lics to further boost evangelization
efforts and preserve old writings by
foreign missionaries.
Catholics have also served as pio-
neers in introducing various forms
of music, plays and publications to
the country.
Father Triet, 74, said the exhibi-
tion features 1,507 books, some of
which are nearly three centuries old.
They will be on display to the public
until May.
Most were collected by the priest.
The rest come from church centers,
government-run book companies,
and individuals.
They focus on Christian values
and fields related to culture, phi-
losophy, hu ma n it y, psyc holog y,
literature, the sciences, technology,
and social development.
Father Triet described the exhi-
bition as “an opportunity to show
our deep gratitude to our Catholic
ancestors.”
Paul Tran Quang Chu, who do-
nated three books, said they draw on
the theological values in poems and
writings composed by Han Mac Tu,
a famous Catholic poet who died of
leprosy in 1940 at the age of 28.
Chu, 73, said he was inspired by
Han’s religious devotion and how he
refused to stop composing magnifi-
cent poetry despite battling various
illnesses at different stages of his life.
Han “set a shining example for
future generations of how we should
trust in God,” Chu said.
Despite t he obvious merits of
Han’s works, book reviewers to-
day would most likely ignore their
Catholic dimension altogether as we
live in an increasingly secular world,
he said.
After browsing the collection,
Dominican Sister Mary Vu Thi Mong
Hang said the books remain relevant
as they provide instruction on how to
deal with problems people still face,
regardless of their faith.
Sister Ha ng, who work s w it h
Catholic youth groups, made a re-
cord of several titles that caught her
eye, so she could search for them to
read at a later date.
“Books are useful to me for the
work I do with young people,” she
said.
Peter Nguyen Khac Dung, a Cath-
olic singer, said the exhibition high-
lights the importance of preserving
literary and cultural relics given that
so many have been lost over time.
Hmong Refugees in Vietnam Turn To Catholicism
Joseph Sung A Phia, an ethnic
Hmong, decided to embrace Catholi-
cism after members of the faith fed
and clothed him when he was left
destitute by floods that destroyed
his home in Viet nam’s Lai Chau
province.
It wasn’t just their generosity that
sparked his conversion, however. He
said the experience of having Catho-
lics open their arms to him and his
family, despite the fact they were
not Christians and were dressed in
ragged clothes, showed him how this
was “a religion of love.”
“I am very happy to know God
and to have become one of His chil-
dren. I hope to spend the rest of my
life praising and honoring Him,”
the 77-year-old told ucanews.com in
broken Vietnamese.
“We are extremely grateful to
those Catholics who consoled us
and offered us food, clothes, and
blankets, and allowed us to stay with
them after severe floods damaged
our home last June,” he added.
His neighbors say he rarely leaves
home without a rosary around his
neck nowadays, and that he regu-
larly attends community prayers on
weekends at the house of a Catholic
family in the community.
Ph i a’s f a m i ly wa s a mo n g 10
Hmong families baptized by Father
Peter Phan Kim Huan at Lai Chau
parish on Dec. 19. The number of
baptized stood at 62 in total.
they have no chapel.
The authorities in this officially
atheist, communist country do not
recognize religious activities nor al-
low priests from other jurisdictions
to pay pastoral visits to people in
other areas.
“I am very happy to know God
and to have become one of His children.
I hope to spend the rest of my life
praising and honoring Him.”
They hailed from mission stations
in Ho Mit and Trung Dong, in the
province’s Tan Uyen district. That
meant the newly converted parishio-
ners had to travel 70-100 kilometers
to attend the baptism.
Since the mission stations were
established at Christmas in 2016, the
number of Hmong Catholics who at-
tend services there has jumped from
70 to 230, Father Huan said.
The priest, who provides pastoral
care for 2,400 local Catholics, said
many fait hf ul gat her at people’s
houses to pray on Sundays because
“They show how strong their faith is
by courageously erecting altars in their
homes to praise God, by removing old
altars, and by wearing rosaries around
their necks,” he said.
They teach Catechism to one an-
other in their native Hmong language
and spread their faith to friends and
relatives, he added.
Father Huan, 62, said Hmong Catho-
lics appreciated the church’s efforts
to help them overcome many of the
difficulties caused by last summer’s
floods. Some 50 households had their
houses destroyed.
In the wake of the floods, the au-
thorities bent the rules by letting the
priest pay visits to offer humanitarian
aid. He also led benefactors from other
areas to pitch in.
“We built 14 houses for those whose
homes had totally collapsed due to all
the flooding. Each house was at least 50
square meters and cost about 90 million
dong [US$3,900], “ Father Huan said,
adding the bill was picked up by Cari-
tas Vietnam, the church’s social arm,
and other benefactors.
Providing basic supplies for victims
of natural disasters was proving to be
the most successful way of evangeliz-
ing in the area, he said.
Joseph Sung A Dua, 40, said his
nine-member family had to stay in a
six-square-meter tent and suffer from
the elements for months after the floods
passed.
“Father Huan built a new 60-square-
meter house for us last month. We are
thrilled to live in such a big place with
a working toilet,” Dua said.
“God sent Father Huan to help us in
our time of need, so we believe in God
and follow Him.”
The rest of Dua’s family converted
to Catholicism in December.