Originally published at National Catholic Register
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of three articles from Vietnam. Read Part I and Part II.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Books by, and about, “Giao Hoàng Phanxico,” Pope Francis, line shelves in the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City’s impressive bookstore, located on Paris Commune Square, known between 1964 and 1975 as John F. Kennedy Square.
In the middle of the square stands a dramatic white granite statue of Blessed Virgin Mary, installed in 1959. Nine years ago, the depiction caused a frenzy when word went out that a tear fell down the right cheek. Affixed to the statue’s base is a message in bronze:
Regina Pacis Ora Pro Nobis
Past, present and an emerging future coexist palpably in this dynamic country.
Two buildings dominate Paris Commune Square: Ho Chi Minh Central Post Office, featuring a giant portrait of the man whose lifelong struggle was the reunification of Vietnam under the Communist Party (achieved in 1975); and the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception, a Romanesque treasure that opened in 1880 and is currently covered by scaffolding. Then there’s the Notre Dame bookstore selling sacramentals, chalices and an assortment of priestly robes.
