Catholics in central Vietnam praised the late Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan as a witness of joy and hope on the anniversary of his death.
On September 16, Bishop Joseph Vo Duc Minh of Nha Trang celebrated a special Mass at the Episcopal House marking the 19th anniversary of the death of Venerable François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who served the diocese between 1967 and 1975.
Some priests and seminarians attended Mass which was broadcast live on the diocese’s website due to strict social distancing to contain the contagious Delta variant outbreak.
Bishop Minh said the local people are extremely proud to have Venerable Thuan as their father, teacher and pastor who brought them together on his death anniversary. According to Catholic and Indigenous tradition, anniversaries of death are occasions for family reunion.
The 77-year-old prelate said his predecessor, who was declared venerable in 2017, indicating that he lived a life of heroic virtue, is well known as a witness of hope and that his name is included in apostolic exhortations who often mention the names of saints. .
The story of the late cardinal, especially his 13-year prison sentence, drew special attention from Vatican leaders, he said.
Wherever he went and whatever he did he always said his homeland was Vietnam and he was Vietnamese
In 2006, Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, former president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Displaced Persons, asked him to keep the old house where the cardinal lived and all the memories of his life after the Vatican took over. approved the beatification of the cardinal. cause.
He said that after learning that he was from Nha Trang, succeeding Cardinal Thuan, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI declared he was “a saint”.
The bishop said that the late cardinal also gave glory to his beloved Vietnamese people because wherever they went and whatever they did, he always said that his homeland was Vietnam and that he was Vietnamese.
Explaining his motto, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace declared: “My message is to smile because I am closely associated with Vatican Council II in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world. Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope). So, people full of joy and hope should wear happy smiles.
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Bishop Minh said local people still remember the cardinal’s words that “Nha Trang is in my heart,†even though he left the local Church 46 years ago.
A week before South Vietnam fell to the Communists on April 30, 1975, the Vatican appointed Bishop Thuan Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. The government rejected his nomination and sent him to prison for 13 years, nine of them in solitary confinement in Hanoi.
The prelate, nephew of the Catholic President of South Vietnam, John Baptist Ngo Dinh Diem, assassinated in 1963, and Archbishop Peter Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc, went abroad in 1991 and the government banned him from to return to his place. He was made cardinal in Rome 10 years later.
Bishop Minh said the cardinal quietly recorded his emotional farewells to the locals during a priestly ordination a few people attended at the bishop’s house on May 7, 1975, before moving to Saigon. He burst into tears to love his diocese.
He said Cardinal Thuan whispered “Nha Trang†in his last breath on September 16, 2002, in Rome. He was 74 years old.
“Although he passed away, he still lives with us. Love is never lost, life is never lost, for God is love, the source of love never dies and never runs out, â€said the bishop.
In such a state of upheaval, we need the witness of hope and to keep hope.
Bishop Minh said that the life of his predecessor was that of a saint. “He was a caring father and devoted, good and true pastor who mingled happily with everyone, the powerful as well as the poor, and those in urban and rural areas.”
He said that Venerable Thuan, who was full of God’s grace and devoted to Mother Mary, always gave a sweet smile to those he met as his gift.
Bishop Minh said that the late cardinal, who wrote the famous work The path of hope in prison, shows hope for people today during the Covid-19 pandemic which is causing great loss of life, pain and suffering to people around the world.
“In such a state of upheaval, we need the witness of hope and to keep hope. He reminds us of the hope which consists in turning to Mother Mary with the rosary, and to Jesus, the only Savior of the world, â€he declared.
A dozen priests who teach at the Stella Maris Major Seminary in Nha Trang concelebrated a mass to mark the anniversary of the cardinal’s death. They expressed their deep gratitude to him for having laid a solid foundation for priestly formation.
The former bishop created three seminaries training hundreds of young vocations and organized many refresher courses for young priests.
