Vietnam Catholic festival draws at least 100,000
HANOI - More
than 100,000 Vietnamese Catholics
over the weekend marked the end of
year-long events commemorating the
200th anniversary of an apparition of
the Virgin Mary, participants said on
Monday.
They said the dusty central Vietnam
town of La Vang was packed with
pilgrims and priests during three days
of Masses and elaborate ceremonies
that kicked off last Friday.
The opening celebrations at La Vang
12 months ago were the biggest legal
Catholic festival held in communist
Vietnam, and also attracted more
than 100,000 devotees.
Freedom to worship has improved in
Vietnam in recent years, although
religion remains a thorny issue and
the communist authorities retain strict
control over formal religious
hierarchies and related activities.
The Virgin Mary's appearance was
recorded at La Vang in 1798, a time
when Catholics were being
persecuted by the then Vietnamese
emperor. Taking refuge in forests,
the Catholics were visited by an
apparition of the Virgin Mary holding
a child in her arms.
About eight million of Vietnam's 79
million people are Catholic, the
second biggest Catholic community
in Southeast Asia outside the
Philippines.
Reuters - August 16, 1999.
|