Jesuit Superior General Fr Arturo Sosa arrived in Vietnam on Sunday, December 2, for his first official visit to the Vietnamese Jesuit Province and his second official trip to the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. Last year Fr Sosa visited the Indonesian Province, Cambodia Mission and the Jesuits in the Malaysia-Singapore Region, in which he stressed the call to discernment in common.
Fr Sosa and his Regional Assistants, Fr Danny Huang SJ, (Asia Pacific) and Fr Victor Assouad SJ, (Western Europe), were warmly welcomed by the Vietnamese Jesuits led by Provincial Fr Vincent Pham Van Mam SJ. At the Province Curia, he was also greeted by Jesuit scholastics and at the nearby infirmary house, he met the aged and infirm Jesuits. Fr Sosa especially visited Fr Peter Pham Huu Lai SJ, who blessed the Superior General from his sickbed. Fr Lai was the Jesuit superior during the “underground” period in Vietnam.
On the morning of December 3, Fr Sosa concelebrated the ordination of six Vietnamese Jesuits to the priesthood. In the afternoon, he had a meeting with the Jesuits in the Province to learn more about their context and realities.
In the coming days, Fr Sosa will visit the Sacred Heart Novitiate and bless the new candidates house. He will meet with local superiors and directors of works to listen to the challenges in their Province ministries and how the Jesuits are engaged in universities as a source of Jesuit vocation. Moreover, he will be presiding at the Final Vows of Fr Anthony Nguyen Cao Thang, Fr Paul Nguyen Thai Son and Fr Andrew Pham Hoa Lac.
Fr Sosa will also visit the bishops of the Sàigon Archdiocese and the St Ignatius Community, the first Jesuit community of the Vietnamese Province.
He will cap his trip with an audience with Jesuit scholastics, a dialogue with representatives of ethnic groups, and a meeting with lay collaborators and benefactors.
On December 7, Fr Sosa will go to the Philippines where he will be spending a week visiting various ministries and communities in Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro before flying back to Rome on December 15.
