I was much impressed by the devotion of Vietnamese Catholics. It was my first visit (1995) and coming from Japan, a free democratic country, I felt the tensions between the Church and the communist regime there. Although it is difficult to know the real numbers, Catholics in Vietnam might count over 5 million. But, more than the numbers, the religiosity of Christians there is impressive. For instance, churches were full of people during the masses and in many places they will recite, daily, together the Way of the Cross.

The history of the Vietnamese is full of foreign military invasions and wars. China in the past invaded much of the northern regions of Vietnam and, in recent times, the so-called American war is still fresh in the minds of people. The fact that Vietnam has been without any war since the last military clash with China in the early 1979 seems to be unusual.

Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics left the North during the early '50s and settled by communities in the South, mainly near the city of Ho Chi Minh (old Saigon). I spoke to several Catholic leaders and priests (some of them had jail experiences) and they were quite clear about the official precautions with regard to the Church. I could notice the ordinary difficulties the Church has to face in the training of seminarians and religious, education, welfare activities, in the fields of information and publications, etc.

I heard that most churches had 2000 Christians and several as many as 10,000. Some churches held 7 times masses on Sundays. Even during weekdays mass starts at 5 o'clock in the morning and usually people overflow. On Sundays, many people have to stand outside. In the cities, most people will come to Church by bicycle or motorbike.

Akimoto(right) with a leprosy patient's family
living in boat