The Servants of the Paraclete in Vietnam

Transcription

1 We all are the Priestly People of God. Together, we are leaders in responding to the emotional and spiritual needs of Priests and Brothers. January Vol. 30 No. 1 The Servants of the Paraclete in Vietnam Birth of an Idea Duc in Altum move into the deep. Celebrating 15 years of a presence in Vietnam I believe the story of the establishment of the Servants of the Paraclete in Vietnam goes back to This was the year in which Father Peter Lechner, sp was elected as Servant General and the year when Fr. Philip made his first vows. In the previous ten years vocations had been very scarce both in America and in Europe. At our General Chapter that year, one member suggested that we commit ourselves to praying the Angelus three times a day for vocations, and the members agreed. It was not long after that that Fr. Peter had a letter from a Vietnamese priest Fr. J. who was working in Australia. This priest was able to go back to Vietnam every year, and was bringing modest financial support to some young men aspiring to religious vocations and to the priesthood. He told Fr. Peter that he could introduce him to some of these young men. When we prayed for vocations, we had not expected this! Our members agreed that we should explore the situation in Vietnam. They took as their guiding maxim the words of Pope John-Paul II in his Encyclical letter Tertio Millenio Ineuente Duc in Altum i.e., move into the deep. This was an exhortation of the Pope to the universal Church on the threshold of the 3rd millennium. We applied it to ourselves: either we could decide to die out or strike out into the deep and lower our nets into different waters! Map of Vietnam

2 First Visit to Vietnam Fr. Peter decided to go to Vietnam and visited Saigon (officially Ho Chi Minh City), Hanoi, the capital, which is in the North, as well as other places in Vietnam. Father J. was able to introduce Fr. Peter to Mr. K who lived in Saigon. Mr. K had been in the seminary at the time of the Communist victory and he had to leave. Eventually he got married and while raising a family became a business-man and remained a devoted Catholic. Fr. Peter was met at the airport in Saigon by Fr. J. and about 12 prospective Vietnamese candidates, who accompanied him to the Ecumenical Hotel, where Mr. K. had arranged for him to stay for a few days. Subsequently, accommodations were made at a place named Hotel Number 1 - which holds a special place in the affections of several Western Servants of the Paraclete. This guest-house was leased to a priest by the Archdiocese and it was a not-for-profit establishment with connections to certain enterprises among which were a co-operative to sell bamboo and rattan goods at a fair price for the benefit of ethnic minorities who made them. There are about 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, but 89% of the population are Viets, what you and I would think of as ordinary Vietnamese. Mr. K. organized interviews with the prospective candidates and Fr. Peter selected some as possible candidates. He also met some candidates in North Vietnam (about 1,000 miles from Saigon). Many of these candidates had been hoping for some years that they might in some way they could follow their vocations. Background to the Situation of the Church in Vietnam After the communists took over North Vietnam in 1956, and then South Vietnam in 1975, the Church was under quite severe restrictions. All catholic schools and hospital were taken over by the State. The number of seminaries was strictly controlled and reduced by the State. Government permission had to be obtained to enter a seminary and only a small number each year could do so. Many of the older priests were sent away for re-education. This is the background for informal communities being set up on a shoe-string often by very good and zealous priests. They would be living in very small houses, all sleeping on the floor in a large loft-like room. I have visited these places myself. They would pray together and attend school to prepare for possible acceptance in a religious order or seminary. Sacrificing themselves in this way was a huge act of faith on behalf of these young men, most of whom would never be able to reach their goal. In regards to religious orders, only those established before the revolution were able to continue officially. Newer orders had a very long, shaky and uncertain journey on the road to recognition by the government. This is the setting in which quite a few of the men introduced to us were living. Saigon Modest First Steps Father Peter came to know some priests and bishops and was able to meet Cardinal Man, Archbishop of Saigon, who was at least aware of what we were thinking. When Fr. Peter asked him about various permissions, his Eminence answered rather enigmatically and carefully after several minutes of thought: in my Father s house there are many mansions. Fr. Peter moved fairly quickly to try to help set up two initial groups of candidates in Vietnam, one in Saigon, the other in an area further north. He enlisted the help of several priests to provide the new candidates with direction and to celebrate Mass for them in the house. Mr. K. looked after the financial side and we sent a small subsidy every month. The brothers lived together very frugally. Most of them came from large families and were used to living and working together with many brothers and sisters. Almost naturally they organized themselves into teams and arranged for going to the market (daily), house cleaning, transportation, cooking, and their daily life of prayer in community. One was appointed in a leadership role. At first he was called the monitor, then Brother Servant. At the beginning they had a daily spiritual rule with some becoming Eucharistic ministers, and this made it possible for us to have the Blessed Sacrament in the house chapel. Every day the candidates were expected to go to Mass usually in neighboring parishes -- and also to pray morning, mid-day, evening, and night prayer together. They also had an hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each day, which is an essential part of Paraclete Spirituality. They were given guidelines about life-style both in and out of the house. Most were involved in studying at various universities or other places of higher education. The subjects studied depended on the needs of each one. In some instances, an individual was in his last year of a BA program in social work, psychology, hotel management, engineering, or another subject. We felt it was wise for them to finish their program in order to obtain a

3 degree which could be helpful in various ways in their future life as a servant of the Paraclete. On the other hand, if they did not continue toward religious life, they would be well prepared for life in the secular world. In hindsight it seemed that no one abused this system. Others entered into studies on religious life (taught by a particular order in Saigon). Most studied English often in the evening. We had a basic rule that they could only stay in that setting for two years. All were supposed to be engaged in some form of apostolic work for example, visiting handicapped, aged, teaching catechism in the parish, etc. First House Our first idea was to gradually bring suitable candidates to America for their novitiate. However, the first group was refused visas from the US consulate, so we decided to rethink plans for their initial formation for religious life. Since quite a few enquirers were coming, Fr. Peter decided that it might be good to purchase a house in Saigon for candidates. To find something affordable we had to go to a suburb called Go Vap, not too far from the airport. One problem for the Church in Vietnam is that it is very difficult to become incorporated. I believe that parishes can be incorporated, but for most other ecclesiastical groups it is not possible. So the house was placed in the name of Mr. K. (Now, it is in joint ownership of three members in final vows. That is what has to be done there.) The house is 12 kilometers from the city-center. It has three stories with six bedrooms each large enough to hold three bunk beds. Upon entering the house from the street, a person first goes through a covered area, where motorbikes and bicycles are kept. On the sides of the entrance way are two friezes, one of the Baptism of Christ, the other of the Holy Spirit. This opens up into the main room, which is used as a parlor/family room. Beyond that, at the rear of the first floor there is a kitchen /dining area. After moving in, the brothers soon had the place looking quite good. In the traditional Vietnamese style they set up a family shrine with sacred images and a picture of our Founder, Fr. Gerald whom they reverenced as their spiritual father. Fr. Peter then had a chapel constructed on the flat roof above the third floor. The brothers acquired very simple basic chapel furnishings, Mass vessels, vestments, etc. Fr. Alphonsus, a Dominican priest who spoke English, came once a week to celebrate Mass in English for them, and they learned to sing various parts of the Mass assigned to the faithful. Each day they photocopied the readings of the Mass to help all to follow the Mass when it was said in English. The Philippines Fr. Peter had spent several years in the Philippines with Brother Bernard in the nineties working with priests in need of renewal and help. When he was elected Servant General, he then had to give up that particular ministry, but by that time he had trained staff that was capable of managing a stable program of priestly renewal. A good missionary works himself out of a job! Notre Dame Cathedral Saigon Because Fr. Peter was quite familiar with the scene in the Philippines and because visas between many Southeast Asian countries are easier to obtain, we decided to explore the Philippines as a place of formation for the Vietnamese candidates. The Philippines is 85% Catholic the only country in Asia where the majority of people are Catholic. There are Dominican, Jesuit, Christian Brothers, Vincentian (to name a few) universities in Manila as well as in other cities in the Philippines, as well as many other institutions of higher education. In that sense it is a very Catholic country. In 2003, I was going along quite happily in England as Father Servant and program director of our house in England which was called Our Lady of Victory. We offered spiritual renewal programs and counseling for priests who came from many countries. I had been novice director before, and Fr. Peter asked me how I would feel about going to the Philippines to take over as novice director. He let me go for an initial visit for ten days. Then, we looked at various possibilities for a formation program and a place to set it up. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales of Lipa, who later became the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila. He gave us a very warm welcome and encouraged us to come to the Philippines. On one occasion he personally took us to the historical Carmelite convent in Lipa, where the sisters gave us a simple snack -- which was more like a mini-banquet. After that, all of the sisters met us in their visiting room and greeted us from behind a grill.

4 were accepted as postulants. Over the next year we added 30 bedrooms to our new house. And in time other candidates joined us from the Philippines, Ghana and Nigeria. Within a relatively short space of time we almost filled all 30 rooms. Tagaytay Tagaytay Mt. Carmel The visit eventually led to the foundation of our formation community in a small house on the grounds of a retreat house, in the city of Tagaytay, directed by the Canossian sisters (officially, The Daughters of Charity.) The local Diocese is named Imus. The Bishop at that time was the Most. Rev. Luis Antonio Tagle, who has since become Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila. Bishop Tagle welcomed us very warmly and continues to be supportive of our community and its charism. Tagaytay is located in the hills and has a comparatively cool climate. It is in a beautiful setting over-looking Lake Taal, which was formed over a million years ago by an enormous volcanic eruption. The property upon which we were located is on a steep slope that goes down about 3000 feet to the lake. The house where we had our novitiate was a little ways down the slope from the central Canossian complex -- so two or three times a day we had ample exercise going up and down from our novitiate house to the main building. Fr. Ray Gunzel, one of our senior members, went there immediately with the first four candidates. They were clothed as postulants and he was their director. I went back to England to clear things up then returned to the Philippines in November 2003 and remained there, as a formator, until Mount Carmel We purchased a more suitable house in 2004, and since it became ours on the 16th of July, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we named our new residence Mount Carmel House of Formation. This name was chosen at least in part because the servants of the Paraclete are part of the Carmelite family. We are aggregated to the Discalced Carmelites, because of praying for priests, as well as ministry to them, is the primary scope of our charism. Our first four postulants had been clothed in the brown scapular of Carmel when they Vocation visits to Vietnam Not long after I arrived in the Philippines I was asked to go to Saigon to visit our house there, which was called St. Joseph s. Subsequently, I went there every year a total of five or six times. This was my first visit to a communist country, and I was a little nervous, especially at the immigration check point in the airport. Before going I joked with the novices: I hope I don t get sent off to prison. When Father Philip Taylor sp, who is from England, went to Vietnam, we suggested to him that perhaps he would be our first martyr (to date, since the beginning of the Church in Vietnam there have been over 100,000 unofficial martyrs there). Fr. Phil responded by saying If I don t return, just inform the British Embassy. Our Vietnamese brothers would laugh and say, No problem Father! Of course, we only entered on a tourist visa. I stayed at the famous Number One Hotel which I can now name in Vietnamese: Khac San So Mot. All our accommodations and local travel was arranged by Mr. K, whose niece was manageress of the Hotel. After taking me to my room and offering a glass of water, he handed me a sheaf of application blanks and in the next half hour we worked out a timetable for the few days I was going to be there. After that the brothers took me out to buy a SIM-card for my cell phone, gave me the phone number of St. Joseph s and a few other numbers, and I was in business. Getting Established Interviewing was to start in earnest the next day. After 5:30 AM mass in the adjacent Cathedral of Notre Dame, it was down to work both morning and afternoon. Of course in most interviews I needed one of the candidates, who had a basic grasp of English to act an interpreter. Communication could sometimes be very difficult and confusing. Misunderstandings were common between interviewee, interviewer, and translator. In the evening I would go to a nearby restaurant, often eating an enormous bowl of pho or noodle soup, then come back and start working on my computer, trying to make some sense out of my notes. I remember that when I returned to my room I would look around the room to see if it had been searched! This is one of the effects of having been raised during the cold war! Frequently, I went to St. Joseph s at first on the back of a motor-bike, and then the brothers would come and accompany me on the public bus no. 36. I was surprised to see that many bus-drivers had a religious symbol quite prominently displayed on the dashboard of the bus. Some had an image of the Buddha (Vietnam is mainly a Buddhist country), but there were also statues of the Blessed Mother with a bouquet of plastic flowers below or beside it, or the Divine Mercy.

5 I don t think this would be allowed on public transport in many cities in the USA! Within a short time I was able to find my way from Hotel #1 to St. Joseph s on my own. This involved traveling on about 12 different streets, but I had my final destination written down. Then I eventually could say, with more or less the proper tones (there are six different tones in Vietnamese), Dai Hoc Hong Bai which means Hong Bai University. Once I went beyond my stop and had to navigate various obstacles on a busy Vietnamese street to go back. Fr. Peter missed the stop completely on one of his trips and traveled all the way to the end of the bus line, quite a few miles from the stop for St. Joseph s. Fortunately he had the phone number for St. Joseph s and a kind bus conductor was able to phone the brothers to let them know what happened. Thereupon all the brothers spread out along the bus route, walking and traveling by motor bikes, looking for the missing American until they found him. The sp community house at St. Joseph s has no land around it, and it is along a back alley. A taxi or a car is only able to travel within about 200 feet of the house, at a point where it takes an expert driver to turn around and/or back out. Side mirrors need to be pulled in lest they break off as the vehicle passes between buildings. Because Saigon has one of the highest population densities in the world, there is little or no land surrounding most buildings. We only have the land the house is built on, and not a centimeter more. We share common walls with our neighbors, and where there is a window in the wall, it usually looks out onto a brick wall. I still can get lost when I come out of the house and try to find my way to the local parish church. The route to the church is a veritable maze, a warren (a word from my part of the world Great Britain which refers to a series of underground tunnels as in a rabbit warren) of little lanes. As you pass along the back streets, you are within arm s length of the interior living space of families and small businesses that many homes have on their ground floor hairdressers, food shops, etc. This gives the impression of a bee hive of home industries. Many local people in that district are Catholics, who originally migrated to the South from the North, at the time when Hanoi and the northern part of the Vietnam were conquered by the Viet Cong. I was surprised to see life-sized statues of the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Mother, and other Saints on the top of many houses. One subdivision has an entrance arch that actually has a cross above it. It was as though you were entering Christian territory. Although Vietnam is only 6% Catholic, it has one of the highest rates of practice of the faith in the world. Growth On my first visit to Vietnam to interview new enquirers I also had individual sessions with each of the 16 candidates who had come to live at St. Joseph s. They were two to six in a room, using bunks and sleeping on boards covered with rush mats. Because we had a sort of back-log, of candidates waiting to enter the house, we took 12 men to come over to the Philippines. That turned out to be the biggest novice class in Tagaytay although, as is inevitably the case, not all stayed with us. The Postulancy and Novitiate are basically times for discernment of a vocation, and we try to encourage aspirants and those in initial formation to feel free to stay or leave depending on whether or not our life and ministry seems right for them. I have always been impressed by the happiness, joy, and friendliness of the members of the sp Vietnamese community. We had many laughs about mistakes resulting from our significantly different languages and modes of expression. Differences in eating habits also gave rise to certain surprises, and my clumsy initial efforts to eat with the proverbial chopsticks amused the Vietnamese brothers. I still have not mastered the art of eating peas or spaghetti with chopsticks. Up until 2012, the standard pattern was for Fr. Peter, Fr. Ray, Fr. Philip, or me to spend a week or longer in Vietnam, interviewing candidates living at St. Joseph s, and then report back to the formation team and the Servant General and his council. Based on these visits and this information we make decisions about the next step for each man. Of course we were learning on the job, and with hind-sight, we now recognize that we made some mistakes. Up until 2010, all the Vietnamese members who were studying philosophy and theology in preparation for priesthood or brotherhood remained in the Philippines, studying at LaSalette University or the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay. Bao Loc Fr. Peter, as always, wanted to forge ahead, and so began thinking about acquiring a second piece of property in Vietnam which would be suitable for our future ministry there. While we, as servants of the Paraclete, are called to any possible and prudent service to priests, we have traditionally done this through residential centers. We realized early on that we would have to rely on a model of ministry to priests and brothers in Asia which would be more self-sustaining than in the West. That is, we would need to do most of the tasks involved in our ministry and seek to keep operating costs to a basic minimum. Hence we discussed among ourselves, a monastic model. Such a model is quite compatible with the Vietnamese and many Asian cultures. We recognized that we would probably not be in a position to hire many professionals. It seems likely that our communities in Vietnam will probably be large, and members will need to do tasks like driving, marketing, conducting the business affairs of the house, cooking, and maintenance, etc. We also felt that it would be good to be in a place where the climate was cooler than most of Vietnam. Fr. Peter traveled to several places in Vientnam. Eventually he came to a provincial town called Da Lat, in the Southern Highlands of Vietnam, about 100 miles to the North of Saigon. The French, during the time of their occupation of Vietnam, had built up Da Lat because it offered a healthy environment and relief from

6 the oppressive heat of Saigon. It is famous in Southern Vietnam for its fruit, vegetables and flowers. One of the first things Fr. Peter did in Da Lat was to visit the local bishop, Bishop Phero (Vietnamese for Peter). The Bishop advised settling in Bao Loc, an area in his diocese about 40 miles closer to Saigon, but still in Highlands, less sparsely settled and consequently offering land which at that time was more affordable. In addition, many Catholics from the North had settled there. Bishop Phero was kindly disposed and quite welcoming toward the new community, but was also clear in saying that he could offer no guarantees given the situation. Since then, he has been made Archbishop of Hanoi, the Vietnamese Capital. The land that we purchased was, Tea Plantation as hoped, more affordable. It had a large tea plantation with a good source of water. The view of the surrounding tea plantations and mountains was inspiring, and within a short distance the highest waterfall in Vietnam could be seen. Near the waterfall we actually saw a few elephants, which, like Indian elephants were quite tame. On the property across the street was located a large church, which on the outside was made to look like a huge barn, but on the inside was beautifully designed in a simple but inspiring way. Close to the Church, but barely visible from the road was a three story statue of Our Lady of Victory. This was like a sign for us in many ways not the least being that had been the name of our center in England for priestly renewal. We realized that the tea plantation would be a good source of income to help finance our work provided we proved to be capable managers of the plantation. Fortunately, some of our Vietnamese members had relatives who worked on their own tea plantations and would be able to guide us in caring for the tea plants. As for our brothers, it was natural for them to work on the land, since many of them came from families that either had farms or were used to planting and caring for vegetables and flowers for their own use. For all of the above reasons, we went ahead and purchased the Bao Loc property during the Christmas season of the year Since until fairly recently we were not ready to manage the land ourselves, we rented the tea plantation to a local farmer, and a smaller uncultivated section to another person who used it for growing mushrooms. More recently we have begun to take care of the tea plantation ourselves. Father Benedict s Assignment to Vietnam Meanwhile, in 2010 I had finished my term in the Philippines and had returned to the USA, where I was assigned to Vianney Renewal Center in Missouri. When Fr. David Fitzgerald, sp was elected Servant General, it was decided that some of our Vietnamese students, who were about to begin the study of Theology, should go back to St. Joseph s and enroll in the Dominican School of Theology for this phase of their preparation for the Priesthood. Because of this Fr. David asked me to go to Vietnam as local Father Servant for the candidate and the student communities, as well as for the fledgling operation in Bao Loc. I arrived in June of 2013, and returned to our former standby, Hotel Number One. As a foreigner, getting permission from the authorities to live in our house was complicated because of strict laws regarding the residency of foreigners in Vietnam. During this time Fr. David visited Vietnam, and together we were invited to attend a large conference of Vietnamese priests working in formation for religious orders or for seminaries. It was a wonderful opportunity to get a feel for the local Church. The Papal Nuncio for that part of Southeast Asia, Archbishop Leonardo Girelli, also took part in the conference. One of the highlights of the conference was visiting the village of Tam Bo where the people are an ethnic minority. (20% of the people in the diocese of Da Lat are ethnic minorities, having their own languages and culture. The French called these peoples Montagnards, which refers to people who live in the mountains.) Outside the church of that locality was a large banner, which read: Tam Bo welcomes the Holy Father s Representative! The local residents, wearing baseball caps trimmed in yellow and white (the colors not of their favorite soccer team, but of the Vatican), were lined up ten deep along the way to the Church and as we arrived they moved up toward the front of the Church for speeches and dancing. Many of these people were converts to Catholicism and one member of their own ethnic groups has become a priest. At the conference we had the opportunity to meet Bishop Chuong, newly assigned to the Diocese of Da Lat. At the same time we were able to renew our acquaintance with Archbishop Phero of Hanoi. We also had a trip to a local church in Bao Loc, where we encountered another enthusiastic welcome.

7 Prenn Waterfall Dalat This time the local Ko Ho ethnic group put on a special exhibition of dancing and provided beautiful accompaniment for the Mass. The church itself is quite large and has a sizeable balcony. Nevertheless, it was packed with people, not withstanding that it was a week-day! Opening Sacred Heart House (Nha Thanh Tam) By the year 2012, in addition to several candidates, we had two professed brothers at St. Joseph s in Saigon. Last Easter, during the holiday break, we asked a party of our Vietnamese bothers to go to Bao Loc to work on renovating a dilapidated house that was on our property, having been used only for storage. They did an excellent job preparing it for future occupancy. Not too long after that last summer Bishop Chuong officially recognized our presence in the Da Lat diocese. Two brothers, Brother Joseph and Brother Alphonsus, were assigned to live in the house as a pioneer community. We hope of course to send more members in the future. Father David approved the name that the brother requested for that house Sacred Heart House, Nha Thanh Tam. Fr. David returned to Vietnam in the spring of 2013 with the superior of our partner-community in Italy (Fr. Raffaele), and a priest associate of that community, Fr. Paolo. Fr. Raffaele became very interested in Vietnam, its people and language. During the few days that he was there he made good progress in learning the Our Father in Vietnamese which is no small accomplishment because of the great difficulty those of us who come from the West have in learning, recognizing, and pronouncing the complicated system of tones in Vietnamese. Fr. Raffaele is also an artist, and indicated that he would like to go back to Bao Loc to paint a mural behind the altar in the oratory that was set up in the renovated house on our property. The first task of the new community in Bao Loc has been to take over management of the tea plantation. The brothers took over in the beginning of November Their first harvest of the tender new tea leaves was made during the Christmas season of My understanding is that with good tea-plant management it is possible to have a harvest every six or seven weeks! We had, however, to invest money in a new water storage pond, water pumps, various pieces of equipment for caring for the tea plants, tools, and fertilizer. Some Catholic neighbors have been very helpful with advice, including a group of religious sisters who also have a teaplantation near us. The tea that is planted on our plantation is called Oolong Tea, which is considered a high quality species of green tea. This tea is especially appreciated in Taiwan, and our brothers have been introduced to agents who are interested in purchasing our tea for export to that country. Harvesting tea is labor intensive because only the tender green new leaves on each plant are used for making high quality tea. This new growth must be carefully sniped off from the rest of the plant, and this requires a certain degree of experience and manual dexterity. For their first harvest, the brothers had to hire some experienced agricultural workers to work along with them. The first harvest was considered a good one, and the brothers were elated and encouraged by this. The size of the tea plantation is about 3 hectares, or about 7.5 acres. As yet we are not exactly sure what the average annual income will be from the tea plantation. More time and more tea crops are needed to determine annual income after initial and annual expenses and investments are accounted for. We expect that it will be able to support a small local sp community and possibly help with some of the expenses of the student and candidate communities at St. Joseph s in Saigon. Dalat Cathedral

8 Pictures from our tea plantation First tea harvest Two Vietnamese Brothers to the USA Our former Episcopal Advisor, Bishop Basil Meeking, Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch in New Zealand, advised us several years ago that it will be important for us to provide an exposure of non-american members of our Congregation to the origins, membership, spirit, and ministry of our Congregation in the USA, where we began and have carried out the greater part of our ministry to date. Shortly after his election as Servant General, and following several visits he has made to our Congregation and its members in Southeast Asia (as well as visits to West Africa from which several members have come) Fr. David began to study and plan for a US exposure and integration of members from other countries. Two of our Vietnamese members were successful in getting student visas to come to the USA to deepen their knowledge and skill in the use of English through special courses offered for this purpose at the Sacred Heart School of theology in Hales Corner, Wisconsin. One of them, Brother Peter, had already completed his theology studies in Manila. He was ordained a Deacon in our house in Missouri by Archbishop Carlson of St. Louis on December 29th. The other, Brother John, still has to complete theological studies. St. Joseph s House today Back at St. Joseph s in Saigon we currently have three brothers studying theology Brother John Vincent, Brother Augustine and Brother Anton. During the last year I had to remain at Hotel Number One most of the time, although we tried various means to enable me to live at St. Joseph s. I studied and attended classes in the Vietnamese language, while continuing with other work for the Congregation as a member of the General Council. During this period I was going to St. Joseph s two or three times a week in order to celebrate Mass for the brothers, pray with them, and assist in many practical ways. During this time I also enrolled in a course for teachers of English in Vietnam, which when successfully completed provided me with a certificate as a teacher of English as a Second Language. This can sometimes help a non-vietnamese person obtain residency in Vietnam. Last summer we had to make fairly extensive renovations on the house, and for the most part we rebuilt the chapel on the roof. The rebuilding of the chapel turned out well and has provided us with a fitting place of worship, suited for individual and community prayer -- when the air conditioning is on! Since the chapel is equivalently on the 4th floor, and dwellings in Saigon tend to have quite high ceilings on each floor, it is quite a climb to go to the Chapel from the ground floor. I told the brothers, when I climb up here to say Mass, it reminds me of a protestant hymn, What is that Father? Nearer my God to Thee! I arrived at a point where I was able to celebrate much of the Mass in Vietnamese at least all the parts that do not change. I was not able, however, to reach the point of being able to read the Gospel in Vietnamese or to preach. Priests and people in the local parishes were very welcoming and I concelebrated several times in two of the local churches. The community and I have been frequently invited to special celebrations such as confirmations. More recently I was able to visit Xuan Loc, one of the six officially approved seminaries in Vietnam. A total of 223 seminarians are studying there and this in a country which, as noted before, is only 6% Catholic. It was impressive to see and hear the seminarians when they all gathered for Evening Prayer.

9 Latest Developments Because the needs of our students were different from those of our candidates, it was necessary for us to rent a nearby house for the candidates. At first we were able to have Father Anton (Fr.Tam, sp) live with them for a few months. He is our first and, so far, only Vietnamese priest. He assisted me in the formation of the five candidates, and also in interviewing new enquirers. He was also kept busy in the local parish. At the beginning of the academic year in the Philippines, he returned to Manila to engage in a course of studies that will prepare him for future ministry as a Servant of the Paraclete. A major milestone for our Congregation in Vietnam was obtaining official approval of our foundation in Saigon by Cardinal Man, as well as the formal ecclesiastical approval of our Congregation in the diocese of Da Lat, which was mentioned earlier. We are now in their respective Directories and are part of the two Archdioceses. However, getting government recognition is a different story. It is not possible to know just how long this will take. It could take a number of years. So our position remains a little precarious, although the situation is getting much better. The department of religious affairs now knows that our brothers are religious, and are reasonably friendly and tolerant of our presence. But we are observed and in certain ways subject to government control. Meanwhile in Saigon, I learned in July of this year that Hotel Number One would be closed by the end of August. Consequently we began to look for a suitable place for me to live; one that would be nearer the brothers in St. Joseph s. Providentially we spoke to a priest who was able to help us through one of the officials of the department responsible for residency issues of non-vietnamese persons in Saigon. I was given a permit to live at St. Joseph s! My permit listed me as English Teacher and Priest. This made it clear that the government knows who we are and who I am, but they are tolerating us. This would not be the same in every part of Vietnam or even every part of the city. However, a fairly urgent need arose at our Motherhouse in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, and Fr. David reassigned me back to the USA. Brother Anthony Long, sp is assigned as Brother Servant. In an ideal world, we would have kept a Western priest there longer, but we are so limited in our numbers that sadly this did not seem possible. A few weeks ago we sent five new Vietnamese candidates to Manila to begin their postulancy with Fr. Philip. At the same time we admitted three new candidates in Saigon. They are staying in house near St. Joseph s, the free use of which has been given to us by a friend of our community. We are only asked to pay the utilities. The Catholic community in Saigon is very closely united, and is very generous this is just one example. Frequently upon opening our front door, we have found a cardboard box of vegetables or other kinds of food. A neighbor lady often helps our brothers, without charge, by going to the market to find bargains. She also often starts preparation of dinner for them. She is quite old now, but she has worked all her life and says she cannot stop now. The Future Step by Step! The honest answer to the question about what the future holds for us is that the future is in the hands of God. In Vietnam, the brothers soon learned the English expression step by step. We learned to use it, too and live it! However, we do hope to establish a house of prayer and priestly renewal at Sacred Heart House in Bao Loc over the next three to four years. For this to happen we need to provide further training for our members. A sound background in psychology and spirituality is particularly important for our ministry. It is also possible that some of them might be asked to come to the USA to help us here, or to other countries in Southeast Asia or Africa. One dream is to have a more suitable place for a seminary in Saigon, with at least a courtyard or a little piece of garden and more privacy for the brothers. The library is almost nonexistent and the only recreation facilities they have is to go to a soccer field nearby once a week and rent it for a few hours. We would like them to have a bit more even if modest and simple. The fact that they are so self-sacrificing, undemanding, and grateful makes us want all the more to help them. These are our hopes. These are our dreams. The good Lord has guided us. So far, our casting out into the deep has indeed resulted in a miraculous catch. Quite a lot of work, problems, set-backs, sufferings, and joys have already been experienced both by us and our Vietnamese brothers over these years. We trust that somehow and in some way this labor will not be in vain, but on the contrary will produce fruit in Vietnam and perhaps elsewhere. I am reminded of the line in Cardinal Newman s hymn Lead Kindly Light I do not ask to see the distant scene: one step enough for me. It is good to travel in hope! Step by step! Fr. Benedict Livingstone, sp In 2014, we celebrate 15 years of a presence in Vietnam. In asking Father Benedict, in collaboration with Father Peter Lechner, to document their journey, we have a snapshot of the history of the congregation in Vietnam. While we cannot imagine the risk, the challenges nor the continuous due diligence for the government, we can thank the leadership of the Congregation for their boldness and fearlessness. Continuing the journey today, Father David is committed to exploring ways of growing the congregation, whose single purpose is to provide for God s chosen his priests. We join together as servants of the Paraclete, our faithful Priestly People readers, supportive donors, friends, family, and staff in congratulating the leadership of the servants of the Paraclete in their journey in establishing the congregation in Vietnam.

10 Deacon Peter Khan, sp On Sunday, December 29th, 2013 Brother Peter Khan, sp (Phung Ngoc Khan)was ordained a Deacon by Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis. Brother Peter is studying English at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corner, WI. Arriving in the US in late July, he was featured in Priestly People along with another of our Vietnamese student seminarians, Br. John Tran, sp (Phan Van Tran) who is also studying at Sacred Heart School of Theology.

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12 Servants of the Paraclete PO Box 9 Cedar Hill, MO ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED January Newsletter NON PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PRESORT MAIL, INC. Mass Stipends We appreciate the many mass stipends that we receive. We thank you for supporting that part of our ministry. The Servants of the Paraclete receive mass stipends from our donors and they look forward to celebrating liturgy with those who offer masses for loved ones, friends and family members. Name of the person to be remembered in a mass celebrated by a Servant of the Paraclete q living q deceased Please send an acknowledgement card regarding the mass stipend to the following: Name: Address: City, State, Zip: If you are requesting a specific date, please allow us enough time to send the stipends to our priests. Thank you Return to: Servants of the Paraclete PO Box 9 Cedar Hill, MO # DEVELOPMENT OFFICE Marian Wolaver x303 mwolaver@theservants.org PO Box 9 Cedar Hill, MO 63016