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VIETNAM Ha Noi Parish Serves
Catholic Expatriates With Sunday Mass In English
HA NOI (UCAN) -- For five years, a Ha Noi parish has been providing a weekly
Mass in English as a pastoral service to Catholic expatriates in the
capital.
A member of the Philippine Embassy staff says the special Mass is a great
help. He used to attend Mass in Vietnamese in Ha Noi cathedral but did not
understand it. But after a recent English Mass at Cua Bac parish in Ba Dinh
district, he told UCA News, "Mass in English offers overseas Catholics like
me a chance to practice our faith and understand the intentions of each
Mass."
The Filipino layman also said that the English-language homilies preached by
Vietnamese priests are meaningful and easy to understand. He often talks
with the priests after Mass about his faith life and the activities of the
Church in Vietnam, he added, and he even offers suggestions about the
English Masses.
Salesian Father Joseph Nguyen Van Thai, a celebrant of the Sunday morning
English Mass, told UCA News, "This is the only place among northern dioceses
where Sunday Mass is available in English, and where Vietnamese and foreign
Catholics can meet and talk about faith life."
Father Thai, 54, celebrated the first such Mass on Christmas in 1998 after
Filipino Catholics in Ha Noi asked Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha
Noi to celebrate Mass for them. Today, the Mass participants include
expatriates from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, South Korea and
the United States. Most work in their respective embassies or for NGOs.
Father Thai explained that about half of the 500 people who normally attend
the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass in English are foreigners. He pointed out that the
others are Vietnamese Catholics who want to practice speaking English with
native speakers before and after Mass.
The priest regards celebrating Mass in English as "a task God entrusts to
me." He added that "many other priests who have a good command of English"
are also able to celebrate Mass in English, but they must attend to other
tasks.
Father Thai, a philosophy teacher at Ha Noi Major Seminary, said he has had
no problem with the local government over the years because priests in
Vietnam are allowed to celebrate foreign-language Masses for foreigners.
According to a local Church source, Father Joseph Nguyen Minh Hoang, the
pastor of Cua Bac, secured the local government's permission to have Sunday
Mass in English.
Father Thai said that talking to the expatriates about their concerns helped
him overcame his initial difficulty in preparing homilies and organizing
each Sunday Mass. However, it has been worth the effort, he said, because "I
want to help them put the word of God into practice, and to build peace and
friendship, and promote human dignity and the fight against war and
poverty."
After entering the church, Mass attendees receive hymn books and missals, as
well as copies of the Scripture readings. Several expatriates are
responsible for reading the Scripture passages at Mass, while 15 people --
both Vietnamese and expatriates -- form the choir and rehearse twice a week.
Stephanie Venci, a Filipino who often does the Scripture readings, told UCA
News that the priest and choir at the Mass make her feel as if she were at
home.
A Vietnamese choir member said that the English Mass is lively and that all
of the choir members are friendly. Marie Nguyen Van Ngoc, the choirmaster,
admitted that the choir the Vietnamese choir members initially "had a
problem with the language, but the priests and foreigners encouraged us and
helped us improve our English." A Canadian choir member commented, "It is
great to sing with the young Vietnamese -- they sing the English hymns very
beautifully."
One student told UCA News she regularly attends the English Mass to improve
her English language skills and to see how foreigners live their faith life.
A 75-year-old Vietnamese woman said she also likes the English Mass, even if
she cannot speak English, because she sees foreign families happily
attending Mass together, something rarely seen among Vietnamese families.
Father Pierre Nguyen Van De, former provincial superior of the Salesians in
Vietnam, has been celebrating the English Mass in Cua Bac since 2000. He
told UCA News, "I try to make the Mass brief and appropriate for foreigners.
After Mass, I often meet and talk with them."
Salesian Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem of Bui Chu was also an English Mass
celebrant at the parish before he was ordained a bishop in August 2001.
The notice board at the Cua Bac church, which has about 1,000 parishioners,
provides local and expatriate Catholics with news and meditations in both
Vietnamese and English.
Three parishes in Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers south of Ha Noi, also
offer Mass for expatriates in English, as well as in French and Korean.
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TIỂU SỬ
CHA
MI-CA-EN
TRẦN
ĐÌNH CƯỜNG PHÙNG
Sinh ngày 20-03-1946 tại
Nha Trang - Khánh Hòa. Gia đình thuộc giáo xứ Chợ Mới, địa phận Nha Trang.
1958-1964 : Tu học tại
Đệ Tử Viện Don Bosco Thủ Đức
1964-1965 : Tập Viện tại
Trạm Hành - Đà Lạt
1965-1968 : Triết Học
tại CheungChau - Hongkong
1970-1974 : Thần Học tại
Don Bosco Đà Lạt
và tại Giáo Hoàng Học Viện Pio X
Khấn Lần Đầu :
16-08-1965 tại CheungChau-Hongkong
Khấn Trọn Đời :
29-06-1971 Tại Trạm Hành - Đà Lạt
Tác Vụ Linh Mục :
17-12-1973 tại Đà Lạt, do Đức Tổng Giám Mục Phaolo Nguyễn Văn Bình
Những Năm Phục Vụ :
1974-1975 : Don Bosco
Thủ Đức
1975-1990 : Phú Sơn và
Tân Cang (Giám Đốc và Cha Xứ)
1991-1993 : Làng phong
Thiên Trợ - Phước Tân
1993-1994 : Don Bosco
Hóc Môn
1994-1997 : Học Viện
Thần Học Rinaldi (Giám Đốc)
1997-2000 : Don Bosco
Hóc Môn
2000-2003 : Học Viện
Thần Học Rinaldi (Giáo Sư) |