Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hanoi (Fides Service) - This morning 29 November in Hanoi Cathedral Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples presided a solemn mass for the ordination of 57 new priests. After dwelling on the significance of the Season of Advent, “when the liturgy invites us to live the great hope of the second coming of the Messiah”, Cardinal Sepe told the ordinands: “The Lord has called you to be his priests and given you the privilege of carrying on his mission of salvation on this earth. Priestly ordination gives you the authority and the duty to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and to preach on behalf of the Church”.
Cardinal Sepe stressed the importance of prayer following the example of Jesus: “Prayer is a vital element for the Christian and also a great service which the priest offers his people … times reserved for prayer is not time subtracted from the faithful… unless we remain united to this source our priestly life is destined to die”.
Another commitment for a priest is mission: in a country with a population of 80 million of whom only 6 million are Catholics, the duty to carry the Good News of Jesus to those who have yet to hear it should be keenly felt. “Preaching the Gospel is not proselytising - the Cardinal stated -, in the negative sense often attributed to evangelisation, instead it is sharing the joy and truth of the faith with our non Christian brothers and sisters”. The Cardinal encouraged the men he was about to ordain priests to extend their eyes and heart and missionary and pastoral concern “to the Church’s universal dimension, to the four corners of the earth”: Remembering that the Church in Vietnam was founded by foreign missionaries - he said - “thanks to God today there are Vietnamese priests who carry the Gospel to other peoples and cultures”.
After thanking the parents and families of the new priests “for offering them for service of the Church”, Cardinal Sepe stressed the need to foster and support vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Vietnamese Catholic families are deeply religious and family prayer is a consolidated practice. The Cardinal asked to them to continue to sanctify the family and protect it from the many evil influences of a society of consumerism and egoism and to “carefully safeguard good traditions of Vietnamese families where family religiosity and respect for the elderly are still deeply rooted”. “Good families produce good citizens for the human society” the Cardinal concluded, entrusting all Vietnam to Our Lady of Lavang.
In the afternoon Cardinal Sepe had a meeting with clergy and religious of Hung Hoa diocese. In his address he reminded them that they have a “special place” in the prayer of the Pope. He recalled the three dimensions of the priestly and religious life which are also the essential dimensions of the Church: mystery, communion and mission. With regard to consecration for mission Cardinal Sepe said -. “The Church in Vietnam is one of the great Churches of Asia and it is aware of its missionary vocation. With many Christians who courageously live the Gospel of love you are on mission whatever your ministry or religious vocation ”.
On November 28 the Cardinal had a meeting with the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Hanoi and recommended special care for formation of clergy, seminarians, catechists and the laity. He also stressed the importance of youth and family pastoral care and the urgency of evangelisation. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2005, righe 44; parole 627)
