The Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com) reports this morning on an official with the Vietnamese bishop’s conference, who foresees a confident future for the Church in Vietnam.
He cites “flourishing” priestly vocations as one reason for this hope. They have over 1,500 seminarians out of a Catholic population of seven million. Do the math. That sure beats us here in the United States.
After the communist takeover in 1975, all seminaries were closed. They were allowed to reopen in 1986, but the government severely restricted the number of seminarians admitted. Those restrictions were lifted in 2008, but the local government must still receive a list of candidates and approve it.
Our diocese of Winona is blessed with the presence of Fr. Thien Van Nguyen, who has a remarkable story to tell of his life starting in Vietnam, seminary there, then fleeing for his life with his family on a boat, only to end up in southern Minnesota and resuming his seminary studies and being ordained many years ago.
Yes, the Church thrives in places of persecution. We in America would do well to model ourselves after the faith and bravery of our persecuted brothers and sisters in various parts of the world.
