Fr Joseph Phe said he has high hopes that the new parish will motivate local Catholics to overcome challenges and vigorously develop their spirituality.
Newsroom (23/07/2022 1:15 PM, Gaudium Press) The Nhan Khang Church, located in Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam province, has been raised to parish status. The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hanoi earlier this July and was attended by about a thousand Catholics, including priests and religious.
Increasing the Faith of local Catholics
In his homily, Bishop Van Thien explained that the elevation of the new parish was carried out with the aim of increasing the Faith of local Catholics pastorally and spiritually. “Today is a landmark day to mark the development of the Faith of the community here. We have received the Faith from our forefathers and we also have a duty to take it to our descendants,” he said.
Father Joseph Mai Huu Phe was appointed by the Archbishop of Hanoi as the first pastor of the new parish, which already has 900 faithful. Until now, Nhan Khang Parish was a sub-parish of Khoan Vy.
Catholicism’s arrival in Vietnam
Catholicism arrived in the region in the mid-19th century when Tran Duc Thang, a Mandarin-speaking local resident, converted. In the year 1905, local Catholics built a 168-square-metre wooden church.
In the year 2006, Father Joseph Mai Xuan Lam took the initiative to build a new concrete church on a plot of land of 330 square metres. The church was completed in seven years. Over the years, the local parish has produced seven religious for local Catholic congregations.
Development of Catholic Church infrastructure
The Archdiocese of Hanoi, which covers most of Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi city, the entire Ha Nam province and part of Nam Dinh and Hung Yen provinces, has founded several new parishes and churches.
According to local sources, the development of the Catholic Church’s infrastructure is a result of the partial relaxation of religious policies and other rules to improve people’s lives in the Communist-ruled nation.(EPC)
Compiled by Florence MacDonald
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