HĐGMVN: THƯ GỬI CỘNG ĐỒNG DÂN CHÚA 2020

The Vietnamese Archdiocese of Vietnam Dear brothers and sisters in the Venerable Venerabilium Nostrum On November 24, 1960 Pope John XIII announced the establishment of the Vietnamese Archdiocese This year, in 2020, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of this memorable event We are happy to meet in the annual conference at the Headquarters of the General Archdiocese of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City I would like to send my warmest greetings to the entire Catholic community and would like to share with you some thoughts on life and the mission of the Archdiocese In the letter to Pope John XXIII From now on, most of the churches in Vietnam will be managed by the National Archdiocese This event demonstrates the spirit of maturity and ability of the Archdiocese This has been fulfilled and fully trained At that time, there were about 1,500,000 Christians in Vietnam belonging to 17 churches Today, there are about 7 million out of 27 churches in the country This is a sign of the maturity and development of the Catholic Church in Vietnam Although there are still many limits to spreading the word of faith Let us all thank God for all the blessings and pay tribute to the great heritage of our ancestors by sweat and tears by blood, sweat, tears, and faith The true love of God not only invites us to receive but also has to live, spread, and pass on the heritage left by our ancestors This is the unity in the Church and the mission of making salt for life and light for the world Since the establishment of the Archdiocese Although we have to face many difficulties and challenges The Catholic Church in Vietnam has always maintained its unity with the Patriarch and the Archdiocese as well as maintaining unity in the Church at home Each of us needs to be aware and contribute to building that unity as the Apostle Paul said Please, brothers, let my joy be full Let us have the same thought, the same mind, the same soul and the same direction Don't do it just for greed or for fame but have a humble heart and treat others better than yourself Don't seek your own benefit but seek the benefit of others In the current situation we are also very concerned about the losses in the life of faith where some moral trends may be due to lack of knowledge or due to the lack of service in some churches Therefore, please, brothers, with love try to accompany the brothers and sisters in the churches to help them become disciples and followers of Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life of all people The unity in the Church is together to build the foundation of civilization, love, and life Therefore, the joy, happiness, and hope the sorrow and worry of today's people especially of the poor and those who are suffering are also the joy, happiness, and hope the sorrow and worry of the disciples of Jesus With that spirit, in these days we urge you to actively participate in the rescue of the refugees in the Middle East At the same time, to prevent the re-emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic we urge you to abide by the rules of health and contribute to the whole society in building a healthy living environment to build the foundation of civilization, love, and life We also want to remind you about the use of media In today's world modern media is a good tool to expand the mind, connect love, and increase inter-relationship Unfortunately, many people use media to divide rather than unite to sow hatred rather than love to sow discord rather than truth As a Christian, we have to use media to serve truth, love, and unity to contribute to the complete development of humanity Recently, on October 10, 2020 at the Cathedral of St. Francisco Assisi Acutis was consecrated He is a role model for us in using media to spread the gospel of love of God to brothers and sisters The digital world is also the home of young people The Church always cares about young people Therefore, the Vietnamese Church spent 3 years 2019 to 2020 to focus on serving young people The theme of the service in 2021 is to accompany young people in family life Family is a place where young people practice the basic relationship with God in prayer the relationship of filial piety with parents and the relationship of brotherhood with brothers and sisters in the family Family is also a place where young people learn personal virtues such as loyalty, magnanimity, service, spirit, responsibility I wish young people and their parents to become a home of prayer a place of love and a place for adult training We are living in the month of May May the Mother of God help us to speak the word of God and become a messenger of good news to others by living a life of love and service At the Center for the Service of Saigon Church in Ho Chi Minh City October 15, 2020 Chairman of the Vietnamese Archdiocese Archbishop Yuse Nguyen Chi Linh Archbishop of Hue Secretary-General of the Vietnamese Archdiocese Archbishop Vero Nguyen Van Kham Archbishop of My Tho