Statistica Ordinis Fratrum Minorum - OFM

156 AN. CXXV – IANUARII-APRILIS 2006 – FASC. I
1.5. The Visit of the Minister General to
the Province of Saint Francis in Vietnam
23rd to 28th February 2006
The first two attempts by Br José Rodríguez
Carballo to visit our Province, Saint
Francis in Vietnam, failed. The first was as
Definitor General and Secretary for Formation
and Studies in the midst of the SARS
threat and the second as Minister General
just at the time of John Paul II’s death. For
this third attempt, after overcoming many
administrative obstacles, the MG and Br
Ambrogio Nguyen Van Si got visas to make
the dreamed-of visit to the Province from
23rd to 28th February 2006. With this visit,
he is the first MG, who received an official
permit from the Vietnamese government, to
travel freely in the country and to visit the
Friars. This visit was a most awaited great
event and grace. In 6 days, the MG could
visit 10 fraternities in two regions of Vietnam
(around Hochiminh City and Nha
Trang) and see almost all of the 180 friars,
who came from every part of the country to
show reverence and affection towards the
representative of our father Saint Francis.
February 23rd 2006. The two VIPs arrived
at the airport of Hochiminh City at
10.00 am by Air Thai. The whole Provincial
Definitory, many Friars and FMM Sisters
were waiting to welcome them with applause
and flowers offered by two young
parishioners in traditional costumes. From
there, we went to the provincial Curia, where
two ranks of people, formed by OFM Friars,
OFS and believers, were waiting with banners
and posters to welcome the guests. Immediately,
every one went to greet the
Blessed Sacrament and invocate the Holy
Spirit in the church, where the friars expressed
their obedience and the MG pronounced
the first words to those who were
gathered there. This rite would be repeated
every time the MG arrived at a friary.
At 3.00 pm, after the official greeting of
the Minister Provincial and a big lunch, the
meeting with the Definitory, the guardians
and their vicars of the Region of Saigon, began.
After the report of the MP on the state
of the Province and of the Secretary for
Evangelization on the evangelizing activities,
the MG spoke about formation: numerous
vocations are a divine grace, but a
great responsibility too. So he highlighted
the importance of on-going formation and
the formation of the guardians as animators
of the fraternities, and commended the option
of manual work as a means of sustenance
and of formation. On the evangelizing
level, recalling that we are fraternity in
mission, he encouraged service to the ethnic
minorities, the new poor and the new
lepers; he called attention to the mission “ad
gentes”. Turning his attention to the VIII
Centenary, he gave a general view of the
programme of celebrations: refoundation,
discernment by focusing ourselves, concentrating
on the essentials, and decentralising
ourselves. He also dealt with the role of the
Definitory and the mode of running it in relation
to the question of authority and economy.
February 24th. This day was dedicated to
formation. Always accompanied by the
Provincial, his Vicar as translator and the
Secretary, the MG went to the house of
post-novitiate (which once was the Seraphic
College) at Thu Duc on the periphery of
Saigon. In the morning, the MG had a meeting
with the provincial coetus of formators.
After the global report of the Secretary for
FS, the MG insisted on some fundamental
principles of formation: integral, personalized,
ongoing, progressive and gradual,
Franciscan, intellectual; he recalled that
formation is a co-journey. He told us about
some priorities on the formative level: to
have a passion for Jesus Christ; to live the
sacraments and to get in touch with God’s
Word; to have a passion for the humanity
too. He highlighted three dimensions to be
taken into account: faith; fraternity and affectivity.
The formators asked for clarification
on some topics: how to organize the
team of formators for a big number of formandi?
How to carry out a nice dialogue,
since Vietnamese culture and globalization
are, somehow, obstacles to a serene and sincere
dialogue?... With a keen sense in ac-