(Fr. Vincent Leclercq, an Assumptionist who teaches at the Catholic Institute in Paris, recently visited Vietnam. Fr. Vincent, who is also a medical doctor, earned a Ph.D. in medical ethics at Boston College several years ago and lived at the Assumptionist Center in Brighton. The following article which he wrote appeared in the October issue of the newsletter of the French province of Assumptionists.)

My nose is pressed to the window as we approach the Saigon airport. It’s six in the morning, 1 A.M. in Paris. I wonder what the next hours, the next days will be like. I don’t have any idea ----- and I thoroughly enjoy this feeling.

An Assumptionist is waiting for me when I land with a smile on his face. It’s Duc, a young Vietnamese Assumptionist brother who lives with our community in Cachan (near Paris). He greets me as well as the Dominican who is with me, Fr. Gilles Berceville, and the Biblical scholar, Claude Tassin, both of whom, like me, have come from the Catholic Institute of Paris to give classes in Dalat. After a quick breakfast of Vietnamese soup (!) gobbled down quickly at the Major Seminary in Saigon, Duc insists on showing me and a few friends the town on motorcycles. Driving in Saigon is a permanent miracle! I feel shivers going up and down my spine more
than once sitting on the cycle’s back seat. I am completely disoriented; it’s nothing like Paris.

15 days of teaching in Dalat

That first day in the evening we already have to take a flight to Dalat. What follows are 15 days of classes for 80 priests who teach in various seminaries in Vietnam, from 22 dioceses. It’s a question of one session after another. Each of us French presenters has the experience of being translated and then commented on in a language that none of us understands well. The participants are for the most part former students from the Catholic Institute in Paris, from Rome, or Manila. Two bishops are also present (from the dioceses of Hanoi and Dalat). The apostolic pro-nuncio joined us after a few days. His visits are all the more important in a country where Pope Benedict XVI is not allowed to come.

In the corridors you can hear French and English mixed in with Vietnamese. The theme of these 15 days: “Learning how to discern and how to help others to discern.” It’s a packed program in this part of Asia where everything is changing and changing fast. It’s a wonderful experience of Church to be able to share our experiences and our questions so intimately and to discover, after all, that they are the same ones that our hearers have.

Visiting several families across the country

Minh, a Vietnamese Assumptionist who lives during the school year with our community in Lyon, comes to get me at the end of our session to take me by bus to visit his family. He tells me that he is very happy because the night before he had dog for supper. I tell myself: “Perfect! At least you escaped that ordeal.” I don’t pay attention to the Korean film being shown on the flat screen of the ultramodern bus: much too violent! By contrast, the reception in the village of our destination is warm and the food delicious. Duy and Minh make every effort to translate our conversations with their families. We talk about simple things: family, country, faith, joys and sufferings…. A conversation that covers the turbulent history of Vietnam. Like many other families, they moved from the north to the south and the war separated them from relatives.

The first piece of bad news: Mass the next day is at 4:45 A.M. I mention that in Dalat Morning Prayer didn’t start till 5:45. I was getting up earlier and earlier. After two days in Cam Lam, we make our way to Vinh, then by motorbike toward Nha Trang. The road borders the sea. A marvel! Once arrived, we visit this spectacular resort whose beaches attract visitors from around the world.

Then we take a bus to Hué where we arrive in the late morning. Without resting we go to visit the imperial palace.

At night we celebrate an unforgettable Eucharist. Duy, only recently ordained  a deacon, assists for the first time in the church of his uncle. The location is breath-taking ---- a church not far from the beach and hidden among pagodas. It took us a while to find the place. Every time we asked for directions, the answer kept coming back, “Straight ahead, straight ahead.”

Then it is off to Duc’s hometown. Mass at 4:30 A.M. but the bells start ringing at 4! Arriving at the church ten minutes before Mass begins, I realize that it is already full and that everyone is singing. As soon as we show up, the congregation breaks into applause to greet the new, foreign priest. The reception is beyond belief. We spend time visiting the homes of Duc’s family, then some hospitals and schools, without forgetting to take in the Sea of China. We also take time to visit the families of other Vietnamese Assumptionists.

Saigon and the Assumptionist communities

The last week of my stay I am back in Saigon. I visit the houses of the postulants and of those studying theology. I have an opportunity to celebrate Mass and preach both there and in the parishes where our parishes serve. I am particularly happy to visit the orphanage we run and to meet the 22 children who are there (and the three new arrivals).

I  am also fortunate to visit the various university residences we oversee and speak with the students. Finally I’m off to the novitiate in Ba Ria, a haven of peace.

Now that I am back home in France I can say that I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to visit our communities there and the families of so many of our Vietnamese brothers. It was a real grace.