Vietnam archbishop hails Marian pilgrimage as ‘event of love, faith'
Pilgrims are seen seated during a Holy Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Tra Kieu, Vietnam, on May 31. (Photo: Fides)
HANOI: A Catholic archbishop in Vietnam has termed a recently concluded pilgrimage to a famed Marian shrine as an 'event of love, faith, commitment, and service.'
The journey to the Marian shrine in Tra Kieu, a Catholic village located in Quang Nam province, was undertaken by more than 10,000 pilgrims.
It was an 'opportunity to profess one's faith in the face of the challenges of the present time," said Archbishop Joseph Dang Duc Ngan of Hue in his remarks at a Holy Mass on May 31, the Vatican's missionary news service Fides reported on June 3.
People from across Da Nang Diocese, which covers some 10,000 square kilometers, attended Mass at the culmination of the pilgrimage at the end of the Marian month of May.
Traditionally, May is known as the "month of flowers," dedicated in Vietnam to the devotion to Mary.
The pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Tra Kieu 'is not only an individual act, but a communal act to renew our vocation and mission,' Archbishop Ngan said.
Vietnamese Catholics believe Mother Mary appeared at the top of the church in Tra Kieu in September 1885 to help parishioners defeat royal soldiers who were trying to exterminate the village's Christians.
Archbishop Ngan warned that all activities — community gatherings, liturgies, and pilgrimages — without the grace of the Holy Spirit, 'will be purely social gatherings.'
During the Marian month of May, Catholics observe prayer vigils, open-air Masses, and community rosaries at Marian shrines, where fresh flowers are offered as a sign of love and devotion to the Mother Mary.
The pilgrims also used the event to prepare for the Solemnity of Pentecost, which falls on June 8. The pilgrimage was also a celebration of Mary as the "Woman of Pentecost."
The Da Nang Diocese has been the cradle of Catholicism in southern Vietnam. Evangelization efforts began in the area in 1615 when three Jesuit missionaries landed in Hoi An.
An estimated 130,000-300,000 Christians were killed during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, accused of joining the false religion of Westerners and working with foreign forces to invade the country, Church records say.
Many were executed by beheading, suffocation, or flaying, while others, including priests, were hanged in cages.
The first Vietnamese martyr, Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen, a catechist beatified in 2000 by Pope Saint John Paul II, was the result of the preaching efforts by these Jesuit missionaries, Fides reported.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Da Nang was a leading center of the erstwhile Diocese of Cochinchina (in southern Vietnam).
Pope John XXIII created the Diocese of Da Nang on Jan. 18, 1963.
The diocese, which spans the city of Da Nang and the province of Quang Nam, has approximately 73,000 Catholics (2.7 percent) in a population of 2.7 million across 51 parishes.
It is estimated that Vietnam has approximately seven million Catholics, accounting for around seven percent of the country's 101.5 million population.--ucanews.com
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