Preaching Hope from Prison: François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán
François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán Tomorrow is the feast of St John Mary Vianney, patron of priests. More than ever today we need holy priests. We priests need your prayers. One of the great priests of our time was François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán (1928-2002). Fr Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly I am conscious of the Church in Vietnam in a personal way because I am giving a weekly class to the eleven aspirants of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family here in Bacolod City. The group includes six young women from Vietnam, the first to enter the congregation. The Church in Vietnam has suffered greatly in modern times and harrassment is not yet absent, as the story of Fr Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly , 64, shows. The Martyrs of Vietnam , celebrated by the Church on 24 November . In the May-June 2006 issue of Misyon , which I edit on behalf of the Columbans in the Philippines, I published an article by the Cardinal. Misyon was then a printed magazine. We are gradually p