~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Only Catholics and shopkeepers interested in X'mas in Vietnam

HANOI - Christmas in mostly Buddhist Vietnam is of interest only to the relatively small Catholic community and to shopkeepers, who use the time to kickoff the spending spree that comes with Chinese New Year in February. There are only between seven and eight million Catholics in Vietnam, a little less than 10 percent of the population. In Hanoi, believers attend mass in the Saint Joseph cathedral.

In the southern Ho Chi Minh city, the economic hub to where several Catholics fled the communist regime after the departure of the French in 1954, they celebrate the birth of Christ at the pink-bricked Notre Dame cathedral, built at the end of the 19th century. The cathedral unusually allows believers to follow the service in the square outside, sitting on their motorcycles.

This year economic woes are affecting the Christmas-time worship. In Vietnam Christmas and New Year are mostly an opportunity for companies to organise lavish cocktail parties for their clients and suppliers, while their bosses give lengthy speeches in praise of their business.

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2002.