As bishops, but mainly as Vietnamese,
it is "our mission" to contribute to the development of the country.
Growth that passes through a "change of mentality", nullifying the
centrality "of the Marxist ideology" and favoring a "return to the
traditional culture".
This is what Mon. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop underlined
in an interview with AsiaNews. Mons. Paul, Bishop of Vinh, is a staunch
supporter of the constitutional reform-campaign -
promoted through petitions and collected signatures - for the end of
the hegemony of the single, communist party system.
The prelate,
President of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, confirms
the union of intent which binds the Vietnamese clergy to the
intellectual movements supporting the change, because "it is the
responsibility of all to think about the fate of the nation."
A goal, he
warns, that can only be achieved through "an education that looks to
the young people and students in particular", considered the true
authors of real development that not only affects the economy, but also
involves "society, politics and religion".
For 68-year-old Dominican - in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him
bishop and assigned him to the Diocese of Vinh - Vietnam is living "a
difficult historical situation", characterized by "problems with China"
that date back to independence and conflicts "in the East Sea" (South
China Sea).
It constitutes "a threat" to the integrity of a nation that
since the 80s has made tremendous progress "in the economic sector",
but which did not affect "the social, political and religious" spheres
in the same way.
"Today the limits of this change - adds Mons. Paul -
are emerging in all their clarity. And that is why a radical change is
necessary for the destiny of the country". All the bishops, he says,
have "agreed on this point."
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vinh is a particular territory, in the
north of Vietnam and characterized by clashes between faithful and
authorities which have often resulted in open repression, arrests,
trials and sentencing to prison.
However, the number of the faithful
is growing: there are more than 500,000 Catholics in a population of
just over 6 million inhabitants (2010 data) and a territory subdivided
into 179 parishes. "We are experiencing many difficulties", recounts
Mons. Paul, "but the faith is steadfast. We also have many vocations, so
that our young people today are not only found in Vinh but also in
different dioceses and in many communities around the country".
On the subject of evangelization "there are lights and shadows",
because if it is true that "Catholics are strong", limits also persist,
so that "we cannot announce the word of God so easily, as happens in
other nations".
The clash between Catholics and Communists "is very
strong," added the prelate, who means to speak specifically of "clashes"
and not open "persecutions" against the faithful.
"And even today these
clashes are apparent", he continued, "and dialogue isn't as strong as
it should be".
He denounces the lack of effective means of communication ("we had no
television, radio, newspapers ..."), but "the arrival of the internet
has brought changes, so that each diocese and each congregation had its
own website".
Therefore, today more than ever, the priority is to carry
out a "training of personnel" who may be - unlike in the past - ever
more "qualified".
"Both for what regards evangelisation", said Mons.
Paul, "and social growth. We want to form especially young people and
students, with a view to the future and to work, to give a concrete and
effective contribution to the growth of Vietnamese society".
Today the Bishop of Vinh is preparing for a trip to South America -
where he taught for several years - to attend World Youth Day (WYD), to
be held in Rio de Janeiro at the end of July.
"There will be a small
Vietnamese delegation", he confirms, "but it won't be large because the
economic crisis is beginning to be felt also in Vietnam. But it will be
an opportunity to meet Pope Francis, young people from all over the
world and to meet up again, in Brazil and Peru, with many old friends".
Mons. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop was born in Lang Anh, Nghe An on February
2, 1945. He attended the Dominican Center for Studies and the University
of Saigon, where he obtained a Licentiate in Eastern Philosophy (1970).
He earned in Switzerland a doctorate in philosophy at the University of
Fribourg (1978), and later a doctorate in moral theology at the Faculty
of Theology in São Paolo (Brazil). He was ordained a priest August 8,
1972.
After ordination he taught in the faculty of theology in Lima
(Peru), in the 1980s, and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas
Aquinas in Rome (1997-2003). From 2000 he taught a course in ethics and
social doctrine of the Church at the Dominican Center for Studies and in
various religious institutes, and a course in religious studies at the
University of Ho Chi Minh City.