Originally published at National Catholic Register
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of three articles from Vietnam: Read Part 1 here.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — While traveling in Vietnam for three weeks, immersing myself in Catholic communities and sacred spaces, I met many impressive young men and women who have dedicated their lives to Christ.
So frequently, a day’s highpoint included exchanges in English or French with a young priest or member of a religious order. A pattern emerged as I chatted with these young religious in Vietnam: Most had significant experience in other Asian countries.
These pilgrims had lived within the universal Church, as a world with fewer barriers than the secular reality of borders and national tensions. As a result, their Christian outlook is both cosmopolitan and humble.
Could this fluidity between Catholic communities in Asia be a source of regional integration? Are emerging Catholic leaders serving as a force for harmony across extraordinarily diverse cultures?
Education and Mission
Examples support the point, including Brother Peter Nguyen Viet Bao, age 32, who took final vows with the Marist Brothers last year.
Brother Peter grew up in a Catholic family living in a poor region of central Vietnam. Missionaries came
