On January 21, more than 170 Montagnards (Degar Christians) were granted the chance to a fair asylum process by the Cambodian government. They had fled to Cambodia from religious persecution in Vietnam in late 2014 and 2015. Many had endured imprisonment, torture, harassment and violations of their land rights.
This government decision was welcomed by the Jesuit Refugee Service, which has been accompanying the Montagnards since they arrived in Cambodia.
Although the Jesuits do not have any parishes, schools or universities in Vietnam, they have found a way to reach out to young Catholic students. In what they call their “pastoral ministry of/for students”, they provide, in church-based settings, classes on catechism, Ignatian spirituality, and leadership to help Vietnamese Catholic students become rooted in and widely apply Ignatian spirituality in their lives, and live a life of faith.
Seven Jesuits were ordained to the priesthood in Thu Duc, Hồ Chí Minh City on Saturday, August 20, 2015.
Peter Nguyễn Xuân Anh SJ, Joseph Phạm Đình Cư SJ, Anthony Nguyễn Hoàng Dũng SJ, Matthias Nguyễn Kim Đoàn SJ, Francis Javier Nguyễn Thanh Hùng SJ, Peter Đào Kim Sơn SJ, and Paul Nguyễn Thái Sơn SJ received the sacrament of Holy Orders from Bishop Stephen Tri Bửu Thiên of the Cần Thơ Diocese in a ceremony concelebrated by Vietnamese Jesuit Provincial Fr Joseph Phạm Thanh Liêm SJ and more than 120 local and visiting priests, including other Jesuits.
More than 3,000 people joined the Jesuits in Vietnam for the close of a yearlong celebration of the arrival of the first Jesuits in the country 400 years ago. The mass was held at the main Jesuit compound in Thu Duc, a suburb of Ho Chi Minh City.
The Society of Jesus in Vietnam celebrates nine new Jesuit priests. Fathers Joseph Mary Cao Gia An SJ, Dominic Vũ Duy Cường SJ, Francis Joseph Nguyễn Mai Kha SJ, Martin Nguyễn Đình Khải SJ, Peter Nguyễn Đình Khánh SJ, Joseph Bùi Quang Minh SJ, Michel Bùi Hà Ngân SJ, Joseph Vũ Uyên Thi SJ, and Thomas Vũ Ngọc Tín SJ were ordained to the priesthood on August 21, 2014.
An estimated 20 million people across Southeast Asia have been affected by flooding since June. Most are in Thailand, but typhoons struck the Philippines in October, and Laos was hit by cyclones in July and August. About 1.8 million people in Cambodia and Vietnam are also suffering from the worst flooding in a decade. Myanmar also is experiencing flooding, though the extent is unclear because little information has been released from the country. Local media there reported some 30,000 people were hit by flash floods last month that killed more than 160.
On Oct. 7 Cosme Hoang Van Dat, SJ was ordained a bishop and installed as the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The Principal Consecrator was Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon of Dalat, the president of the Vietnam Conference of Catholic Bishops. Twenty-one bishops took part, including Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, retired Archbishop of Hanoi; hundreds of priests and religious and over ten thousand faithful joined the ceremony.