The 13 communities of the Vietnam Province recently gathered to reflect on and share about their current missions as well as their apostolic plans.
One of the youngest provinces in the Society, Vietnam is already one of the larger provinces in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific in terms of men, and is projected to become the second largest, after Indonesia by 2026. As of December 31, 2012, the Province had 46 priests, 87 scholastics, 18 brothers, 28 novices and 135 candidates. Among them, 31 are professed. Based on the average number of 12 to 15 men entering the novitiate each year in the last decade, the Vietnam Province is anticipated to number around 300 men in 2026.
The 5-year-old Province is focused on Proclamation of the Faith, Formation, Intellectual Apostolate, and Pastoral Ministry, and Jesuits are actively engaged in various apostolic ministries such as giving the Spiritual Exercises to religious and laity, evangelization, social and pastoral ministry, chaplaincy for migrant workers, students, professors, CLC groups, and parish ministry.
The meeting’s final session was devoted to revising the plans for the upcoming celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first Jesuits’ arrival in Vietnam in 1615.
For the 150 years after their first arrival, Jesuits had significantly contributed to the foundation of the Catholic Church in Vietnam. However, in 1773, their work was interrupted due to the universal suppression of the Order. Jesuits returned to Vietnam and resumed their work in 1957, but in 1975, many Jesuit missionaries were forced to leave the country with the advent of the communist regime. Only 30 Vietnamese Jesuit priests, brothers and scholastics remained, and it was they who kept the Society of Jesus and its fire alive in Vietnam.
The Province has designated January 18, 2014 as the beginning of the Jubilee year celebration, which will conclude on January 18, 2015, its 400th year.
“The Jubilee is an opportunity for Jesuits, collaborators and friends to renew our spiritual lives and to rekindle the spirit of evangelization,” said Fr Provincial Joseph Pham Thanh Liem SJ.
The annual Province meeting was held on January 31 and February 1 in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.
On February 2, Fr Joseph presided over the profession of final vows of Fr Michael Truong Thanh Tam SJ, who currently serves as the director of the Alberto Hurtado Center for Pastoral and Social Service (AHC).
