Vu Nhi Cong

Some 22 million people depend on local water supplies. With a surface of 1.377 hectares, the farm will raise 2,500 sows and tens of thousands of pigs for slaughter. The farm was built before assessing its environmental impact.

The “Cross is the guide (Kim Chỉ Nam) that leads in the right direction,” says Catholic student. “The Holy Cross is not only a sacred force that brings young people together, it also supports us in our work with the poor,” says a Caritas volunteer. Mgr Joseph Vũ Văn Thiên calls on young people to be prophets and witnesses of the mission.

"Missionary points" dotted around the suburbs of the cities, catechism and priestly formation. Msgr Joseph Đỗ Mạnh Hùng: "To help children make the right choices, to build the future and contribute to Church and society". Msgr. Peter Nguyễn Văn Viên: "Express their identity and promote the mission of truth".

The 59-year-old jurist with a master's degree in politics has been vice president since January 2016, when the Communist Party Congress reshuffled the country's leadership with the presidency going to Trần Đại Quang, a top conservative leader in the Politburo. The mystery surrounding his death is fuelling the rumour mill.

The authorities want to build a house of culture for another village. In the past two years, parishioners in Phú Yên fought to help the fishing communities and the victims of the worst environmental disaster in the country's history. The Pastoral Council and the local Women's Association came together to pray but were threatened by party officials and ex-soldiers.

In the capital, Mgr Marek Zaleski held talks with government representatives and met bishops, priests, religious and faithful in the archdiocese. "It is my responsibility to 'guarantee' the bond of communion among bishops, between bishops and priests, between bishops and the community of God, and between the Vietnamese clergy and the Holy Father".

The prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life met the clergy in Xuân Lộc, Hồ Chí Minh City, Huế and Hà Nội. He expressed gratitude to the 117 martyrs of Vietnam for "the vitality and youthfulness that characterise the local Church". He urged the consecrated to give themselves “to Jesus to reach the aim of his love. This is the only reason for the consecrated life.”

Roll out in the territories of Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh, Hà Giang, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Cao Bằng and Điện Biên. It is feared that the use of the "red currency" could be extended to other provinces and cities of Vietnam. The expert Nguyễn Xuân Nghĩa: "Vietnam will become 'landfill' and 'landing strip' for Beijing companies".

Catholics serve at "missionary points" in suburban areas. Separations, divorces and small family size are more and more frequent. For Mgr Joseph Nguyễn Năng, "life changes, but the 'true nature' of marriage does not."

Catholics in the Asian country are closely following the World Meeting of Families. Courses, pastoral programmes and catechesis across the country accompany and support young couples from marriage onwards. For Catholic sociological researchers, welcoming and integrating rural migrants in new parishes is a priority.

Initiatives aimed at teaching the doctrine and values ​​of the Church have been undertaken in the Archdiocese of Hanoi. On 8 August, representatives of local churches and districts took part in a "catechism competition" in Canh Hoạch parish. Seven days before, 400 youths came together for a congress to mark the 11th anniversary of the youth association. Meetings were also held in Phủ Lý-Kim Bảng and Duy Tiên.

Caritas got 30 seminarians involved in its initiatives. The Church has 22 mission centres, whose activities are aimed at assisting and supporting poor families and abandoned children in the hardest-to-reach areas of the city.