catholics-from-vietnam

"We need to scale up our practical compassion, not simply adjust priorities within existing plans."

"To be a Bishop in Vietnam means being a person ready to dialogue with everyone, a bearer of the values of freedom, justice and solidarity, build relations of charity also with non Christians, with atheists and communist. We live among the people in a spirit of charity and friendship, open to atheists and non believers. Our Church, a small minority in our country is engaged in pastoral of dialogue. We have good relations with everyone, followers of other religions, with the government, while remaining fully loyal to the Pope and the Church of Rome."

"We live in an era in which information spreads quickly, most Vietnamese Catholics cannot benefit from it."

"We cannot consent with the decision imposed unjustly by those who have power in their hand, neither we can stay silent in the face of this outrage. Being silent means complicity and a compromise with injustice."

"Easter divides the history of salvation into two parts. The part we are in is the part with the radiant future, in a new life given by the risen Christ, which helps us to walk serenely in our faith and to go firmly and courageously to preach the Easter Gospel. Easter is not an event for us to celebrate as a memory, but a life-changing moment of grace that lifts us out of the sorrows and vices of the past and into a new life."

"To better integrate into people's lives, you need to learn their mother tongue, communicate, understand each other, establish bonds of friendship and communion."

"Singing a hymn is not like singing a popular piece of music. In church music, singing and making music is a service: both the collective singing and the solo singing are an integral part of the liturgical celebration, intended to help lift the souls of the faithful to God, and the singers themselves are called to a genuine love of God and a fervent life of faith. The goal is to glorify God by sanctifying the liturgical community, not to showcase individual talents."

"Vietnamese children can learn to speak Vietnamese even though they're living in the U.S because at home the parents, their brothers and sisters, everybody at home speaks Vietnamese, likewise, Catholic family and Catholic community is very important, to have our young people to understand to profess and to live out the gospel message in our everyday life."

"Like everyone else, the Vietnamese Catholics have adapted themselves to the environment in both rural and urban areas cooperating with others to build a new Vietnam under the motto "of rich people, strong nation and just and civilized society" fostered by the State and at the same time in the spirit "of living the Gospel in the midst of the nation.""

"This mission of love is a mission of silent caring for others. Only if people ask why they do this, do they share their faith in Christ. This way of evangelising is in keeping with the oriental tradition which has great respect for others."

"Do your best to preserve the unity, and love among you. It's the most precious treasure of our archdiocese. With the love that already exists among us, love Mgr. Peter as you have loved me."

"We are used to looking at Christ from an ontological point of view. The contact with non-Christian Asia invites us to look at Him in other contexts as well, especially from the cosmic and historical point of view."

"The Peoples of Asia, in their vast majority, have a deep religious experience, which we must learn to know and appreciate. The evangelization of Asia is, first of all, a dialogue of life with all believers whose experience already brings them closer to God, Who is the Origin of all things. Our deepest conviction is that the Gospel can contribute something profound and vital, to the men and women of Asia."

"My experience in the Seminary taught me that the educator, in addition to teaching, is called to give testimony of their faith, with a simple and exemplary life. Following the Gospel leads us to create a just and loving social order, based on respect for human dignity, at the service of the common good, especially by caring for the abandoned. Living in the spirit of charity and unity, beginning with our Vietnamese Church and with our entire nation: this is what the episcopal motto "Chistus vivit" reminds me of and tells me."

"The Asian people – long humiliated in their national aspirations, their human dignity injured – are no longer, as in the past, resigned and passive. They are impatient. They are eager to reduce their immense technical backwardness. They clamour for a rapid and immediate economic development, the only sound base for democratic political independence… It is in this debate – unfortunately influenced in many countries by the false but seductive promises of fascism and communism – that the efforts being made to safeguard liberal democracy through aid given by the industrial countries of the West, play a vital role. For the honour of humanity, the United States has made the most important contribution to this end…"

"I was shocked by the death of Diem and Nhu. I'd met Diem with Justice Douglas many years ago. He was an extraordinary character. While he became increasingly difficult in the last months, nevertheless over a ten-year period he'd held his country together, maintained its independence under very adverse conditions. The way he was killed made it particularly abhorrent. The question now is whether the generals can stay together and build a stable government, or whether Saigon will begin... will turn on... public opinion in Saigon, the intellectuals, students, etcetera, will turn on this government as repressive and undemocratic in the not too distant future."

"We in America pray that those now still living in the enslaved part of your country may one day be united in peace under the free Republic of Viet-Nam. The achievements of the Vietnamese people will long remain a source of inspiration to free peoples everywhere. As Viet-Nam enters this new period of national reconstruction and rehabilitation, my fellow countrymen and I are proud to be sharing some of the tasks which engage you. May the Vietnamese people inspired by your dedicated leadership and the high principles of their democratic institutions, enjoy long years of prosperity in justice and in peace."

"The fight which we, non-communists, have to lead to-day, is above all a fight against disorder, indiscipline, selfishness, for the honour of a Vietnam that values its freedom, for the security and the well-being of millions of our fellow-countrymen who have suffered from the war, for that fraternity in the flesh between men of the same race and which is called Fatherland."

"Thousands of our people would have sacrificed their lives for nothing if, in independence, we do not attain the unity of ourselves in order to defend/together, under the same banner, under the same command, against what the revolt of our brothers of the North have announced for months as the worst of misfortunes: oppression."

"My dear compatriots, democracy exists only where a concrete democratic experience exists. And democratic life is in short but the putting into practice, by all citizens and all the custodians of public power of the most perfect loyalty and of a mutual confidence which is thus total and justified."

"Even in a healthy environment, the sense of civic responsibility must further be nourished by a careful education of which the molding of character, the sense of personal responsibility and discipline, honesty and the devotion to work and to public service must be the constant object, in the school as in the family, in political and social organizations, as at all echelons of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government."

"In fact, if the sense of civic duty derives its supreme justification from the ethical principles of the respect for the human person and for the common good, however, it thrives with vigor only in a political, administrative and economic climate which is alive and congenial. In addition to the institutions which allow him to take part in the direction of public affairs and draw the attention of his leaders to his legitimate grievances, the citizen must be able to rely on just laws, on an equitable apportionment of social duties, on a courteous and effective administration as well as on the impartiality of the courts."

"Now for more than a century, abnormal political conditions have corrupted the sense of civic responsibility in many a mind. It behoves us now to restore the spirit of public service, the spirit of honor and national dignity, moral and intellectual honesty, the spirit of sacrifice, the sense of discipline, and personal responsibility, courtesy in human relations which is simply the expression of respect for others as for oneself."

"It is a fundamental truth that laws do not cover all the aspects of life, and a Constitution does not create a democracy. Democratic institutions will prosper only when the spirit and will of the people supply the adequate precedent conditions. For democracy is a moral system which will develop gradually as the concept of Common Good will become, day after day, broader and more profound in the mind of the citizen as well as of the governing."

"The Republic of Vietnam, the youngest republic in Asia, soon will be two years old. Our Republic was born among great suffering. She is courageously facing up to economic competition with the Communists, despite heavy and difficult conditions, which become daily more complex. Vietnam nevertheless has good reason for confidence and hope. Her people are intelligent, have imagination and courage. They also draw strength from the moral and material aid they receive from the free world, particularly that given by the American people."

"We affirm that democracy is neither material happiness nor the supremacy of numbers. Democracy is essentially a permanent effort to find the right political means in order to assure to all citizens the right of free development and of maximum initiative, responsibility and spiritual life…"

"We affirm that the sole legitimate object of the state is to protect the fundamental rights of human beings to existence [and] to the free development of their intellectual, moral, and spiritual life."

"Since the end of the last war, when Asia broke her chains, the conscience of the world has at last awakened to a profound and inevitable development: the birth of Asian independence. This realisation has brought about a condemnation in the most concrete terms of the old system of exploitation which governed, in the past, the relationship between East and West. In its place firm efforts are being made to establish a new formula of international cooperation… It is the battle for independence, the growing awareness of the colonial peoples that the origin of their poverty has been the systematic withholding of technical development, coupled with the growing nationalist and social sentiment, that have combined to bring about a profound transformation in the Asian state of mind and given to its masses an irresistible dynamism."

"Following the example of the master, the Church is engaged in fostering the dignity and the promotion of man in all of Her evangelization activities."

"In times of globalization, the world has shrunk, transforming itself into a village where nations have become families living for one another and dependent on each other. And, according to the cultural tradition of Vietnam, families, in relationships among them, are like a village. By this metaphor I want to emphasize that the Vatican and Vietnam seem to have the will to build relations of this type."

"The families are always united in prayer. Vietnamese families also come to church together, which many American families don't do anymore, as their young people go to one Mass while their older people go to another. That sort of thing in American families is causing the faith life to deteriorate in this country, but not in the Vietnamese community. When Vietnamese families go to church, they go to church."

"We are aware that the good news has been planted by missionaries in the past centuries and that our Church was born from the blood of our ancient martyrs. Today we want to be worthy of the grace of our origins."

"To spread the faith is to make more people know God. To spread the faith is to live well our role and responsibility in society. We spread the faith not only by words but also by the good examples of our life in relation to our brothers and sisters of the same human race. Today's society is in need of many witnesses of the Good News, and only the witnesses with concrete good deeds have persuasive power to the people, for actions speak louder than words."

"Where the bond with the diocese is strongest there is a great flourishing of religious life."

"The United States did not keep its promise to help us fight for freedom and it was in the same fight that the United States lost 50,000 of its young men."

"Some $300 million is not a big sum to you. Compared to the amount of money you spent here in ten years, this sum is sufficient for only ten days of fighting. And with this sum, you ask me to score a victory or to check communist aggression, a task which you failed to fulfil in six years, with all US forces, and with such an amount of money. This is absurd."

"The United States is proud of being an invincible defender of the just cause and the ideal of freedom in the world… Are US statements worthy? Are US commitments still valid?"

"Likewise, you have let our soldiers die under the hail of shells. This is an inhumane act by an inhumane ally. Refusing to aid an ally and abandoning it is an inhumane act…"

"If I do not say that you were defeated by the communists in Vietnam, I must modestly say that you did not win either. But you found an honourable way out. And at present, when our army lacks weapons, ammunition, helicopters, aircraft and B-52s (bombers), you ask us to do an impossible thing, like filling up the ocean with stones…"

"The Americans have asked us to do an impossible thing… You have asked us to do something you failed to do, with half a million powerful troops and skilled commanders, and with nearly $300 billion in expenditure over six long years."

"When democracy is recovered in Vietnam, I can say that my dream has come true. I can go back to my life. I would like to go back to my own province, my native province. That’s the best place."

"You say that you blame me for the fall of South Vietnam, you criticize me, everything. I let you do that. I like to see you do better than I."

"Yes, I'm a military man, and as a military man I say that if peace fails and we want to end this war, we must bring the war to North Vietnam. In all possible ways, including landing."

"Until today we have had a half war. I say, had we attacked North Vietnam with a classical war, had we bombed North Vietnam continuously, had we landed in North Vietnam, the war would be over by now."

"When you negotiate with the Communists, you shouldn't fix a deadline. You must not tell them that you want to repatriate the prisoners as soon as possible, to bring peace as soon as possible, otherwise they exploit you. Be patient. One must be patient with the Communists, more patient than they are."

"Of course, I would like to go down in history as the man who brought peace."

"We have told the Americans, that when you talk to the Communists, if they propose this or that solution, you just receive it and take it back and show it to us. Then we would give our views and you would inform them of our views."

"In any peace solution the final decision should be ours. Nobody can sign a cease‐fire agreement or peace settlement without the signature of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam."

"I have always said we are not afraid of a ceasefire, but our stance is that if there is a cease‐fire it must go along with a political settlement."

"The Communists could only hope to win if our ally betrays us and sells us out. But our main ally will never betray us. He has invested so much blood and money."