Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Amid communist rule, a Catholic university opens in Vietnam
Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Sep 21, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After 40 years, the first Catholic Church-operated university opened in Vietnam since the advent of communism in the country.
"The institute aims to enhance theological knowledge and competence among all priests, religious and laypeople," Bishop Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, rector of the institute, said at the opening ceremony according to UCA News.
There have not been Church-run schools in the country since 1975, when communist rule took over the country.
In 1954-1955, Vietnam was split between the North, which was ruled by communists, and the South, which had a Catholic president. For a 300-day period during that time, called Operation Passage to Freedom by the United States Navy, free movement was allowed between the (then) two countries. During that period, hundreds of thousands of people fled North Vietnam to South Vietnam, including many Catholics who feared persecution under the communist rule of the north, and felt safe under the Catholic president in the south.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/amid-communist-rule-a-catholic-university-opens-in-vietnam-24383/
