Carmelites in Vietnam
[1]Among the newer foundations of the Carmelite Order to blossom since the General Chapter of 1995, is the presence of the Carmelite friars in Southeast Asia in the country of Vietnam. Although existing and struggling within a Communist reality, the Vietnamese Church is a vital reality, rich in vocations and many forms of ecclesial life. The greatest number of Vietnamese people remain ancestor worshippers, followed in number by the Buddhists and then the Catholics, who represent about 8% of the population of about 82,000,000 people. Carmel was introduced into Vietnam in 1861 when a foundation of Discalced Carmelite Nuns from the Lisieux Carmel was made in Saigon. Many know the story of how much St. Therese of the Child Jesus wanted to go to the second foundation of the nuns to Hanoi in 1894, but her health intervened. In addition to their nuns, the Discalced also have a large lay Third Order in Vietnam.
Before the General Chapter of 1995, Fathers John Malley, O.Carm. and Míceál O'Neill, O.Carm. visited Vietnam with an eye to a beginning there. The Donum Dei Missionary Family has been working in Vietnam since the 1960's, and in the 1990's was finally able to emerge a little more in public and receive new vocations. They believed, correctly, that there were young men who would be interested in a Carmelite vocation and had begun to assemble a group. After the Chapter, the new General Councilor for Asia, Africa and Australia, Father Anthony Scerri, O.Carm., actively pursued this opening along with Marie Le Thi Thuy Lan from Donum Dei. The Australian Province and the St. Elias Province in the United States both expressed interest in this new mission and visits occurred by friars from both Provinces. As an end result, the Australian Province took on the higher education of friars from several of the Asian foundations in their houses, and the St. Elias (New York) Province was asked by the General Council to assume the responsibility for the formation of the friars in Vietnam. Beginning from the Provincial Chapter of 1997, the St. Elias Province assumed full financial and formational responsibility for Vietnam, and took over the guidance of the first community, St. Thérèse House, in Ho Chi Minh City, founded by the Curia on July 16, 1996. I was privileged, as Provincial during that period, to share in these initial steps toward the establishment of the friars in Vietnam and finally to serve in Vietnam from 2001 to 2009. Always, we will be grateful to our sisters of Donum Dei for their assistance in the early days.
The first Vietnamese brothers were professed in Middletown, New York in June 2001, and on July 16th that year, we opened a second community for the professed, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Priory, also in Ho Chi Minh City. By then, the basic outline was established: aspirancy and candidacy in Vietnam lasting until each brother has his bachelor's degree and integration into community life, followed by pre-novitiate and novitiate in the United States, philosophy in Vietnam studied with the Dominican Friars, and theology has been either in Washington, DC or at the Dominican Institute in Vietnam, or now also at the Jesuit faculty in Ho Chi Minh City. Among the Vietnamese, we presently have thirteen brothers with solemn vows, of whom ten are priests, eight brothers with simple vows, four novices, three pre-novices, six candidates and twenty aspirants. This year, several friars will be ordained, solemnly or simply professed, or moving into the next step in formation.
Since 2008, we have a third house in Vietnam, St. Joseph's Priory, where four of our ordained brothers serve in various churches and works in and around Saigon. Over the years we have also served in the countryside, particularly among the poor and ethnic people, and every summer our students serve there or have assisted in Timor Leste. Because the Order lacks official government recognition in Vietnam, corporate works are impossible. Still, we are active in the local Church and continue to serve, live our religious life and form our young religious always looking forward to a better and freer future. Currently, Vietnamese Carmelite friars are studying or ministering in Vietnam, the United States and in Rome and have plans for expansion in Vietnam. We are eternally grateful for the prayers and the support of so many people over the last fifteen years. We look to the future with hope, and trust in the constant protection and patronage of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Joseph.
Citoc Magazine No2 2012
