An Easter celebration and the sharing of life and faith: male and female students from the three Vietnamese dioceses of Vinh-Thanh-Ha-Vietnam meet twice a year. They are young monks, seminarians, diocesan fathers, religious fathers, sisters from different congregations, who live and study in Rome in different universities: Gregoriana, Salesiana, Urbaniana, Angelicum, Lateranense, Biblicum.
They meet for a Eucharistic celebration to thank God for the special occasions and anniversaries of someone in the community: diaconal ordinations, priestly ordinations, religious professions… and to pray in suffrage for the relatives of group members who have died recently.
The community of men and women religious in Rome is quite organised internally: it elects 3 representatives, 1 person group leader responsible for managing the general activities of the group, one person responsible for communication and one person for the common purse, and meets in general assembly once a year.
The two gatherings are held at the beginning of the school year, on Mission Day and on the Second Sunday of Easter.
These gatherings aim to keep people far from home in touch, so that they can support each other, share their faith and the joys and difficulties they encounter, especially in the first period after their arrival in Rome and also afterwards: “During the gathering on 5 April 2024 – Sister Tho told us – we shared the valuable experiences each of us has in our studies and mission experiences”.
On behalf of the entire Vietnamese community, Sr Tho thanks for the ‘generous, warm and joyful welcome of the community at the General Home, which welcomes, supports and encourages bonds between us’. The Vietnamese community often chooses the Curia of the Sisters of Charity as a meeting place because many Vietnamese sisters also live here. ‘Every time we meet,’ Sr Tho concludes, ‘Sr Solange, Sr Wanda Maria, Sr Mirta of the General Council and the Sister Servant of the house – Sr Graziana – make us feel their closeness concretely and affectionately. Their presence at Mass and lunch does not make us feel alone, it gives us a sense of family. To all the Sisters of the General House our thanks for their generous welcome.
