Year of FaYear of faith a challenge for Vietnamese catholics

(Oct. 03, 2012) In the Year of Faith, the mission is a "challenge" for Vietnamese Catholics
Vietnam's Catholic Church is preparing to celebrate the Year of Faith, which Pope Benedict XVI will inaugurate on 11 October to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council. It will end on 24 November 2013, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe. The Year of Faith will be a "missionary challenge" in a country marked by decades of atheism imposed by Communist ideology; an element to use over the next few years to "reach the 90 per cent of Vietnamese who are not Catholic."
A few days ago, the Pastoral Committee of the Family of the Vietnam Bishops' Council organised its annual meeting with special focus on the Year of Faith. During the two-day event (27-28 September), the 21 heads of diocesan committees and representatives of 26 dioceses looked at family-centred activities and pastoral initiatives for 2012-2013. Every diocese is promoting meetings, pastoral initiatives and mission-centred activities. Bishops are calling for a greater commitment to the Mass, Eucharist and reciting the Rosary at home. In the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City, the local pastoral centre looked at more than 150 issues, ranging from catechism and seminars to parishioner training. For Fr Mark Bui Quan Duc, a Redemptorist clergyman in Ho Chi Minh City, the greatest "challenge" for Vietnamese Catholics is the missionary task that each Christian must undertake. In a nation where the desire for faith is growing, where 85 per cent of the population follows a religion, it is necessary to ask, "How we can approach and contact that 90 per cent that is not Catholic."In order to meet this challenge, the laity's contribution is fundamental, he said.