Arturo Iriarte of the Office of Faith and Culture speaks to the Vietnamese Community of St. Andrew Dung-Lac Parish in West Hartford.

An experience of solidarity with the Catholic Vietnamese Community of Dung-Lac of West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD – On Sunday, April 11, 2021, eleven multicultural parish leaders from around the Archdiocese of Hartford teamed up through the Archdiocesan Office of Faith and Culture to visit the Vietnamese Catholic community of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac Parish in West Hartford, taking part in their Sunday liturgy and greeting the community in attendance.

Sharing words of warm greeting and affection, the Office provided a message on behalf of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Blair: “Given the rise in anti-Asian prejudice and related cultural intolerance, we express our sturdy rejection of these behaviors this morning in solidarity with our faithful Asian Catholics. You have our prayers.”

The message was an offering of peace, love, and brotherhood to the community and especially to those though who still experience racism today. The parish leaders who visited shared personal messages with the congregation and delivered six cultural gifts from their own countries of origin, which were distributed to Saint Andrew Dung-Lac parishioners.

In speaking about the experience, Peruvian American Nancy Vivar-Ramos, a parish leader from Maria Reina de la Paz Parish in Hartford said, “Creating a culture of encounter is truly an experience.” She then added, “Being bilingual in Spanish and English, I hadn’t fully grasped what an American brother/sister may feel like when we speak Spanish in their presence, or when Hispanics experience the same in an English-speaking only environment. I have learned to be subtler and aware of other cultures… The Vietnamese community gave me a welcome lesson by putting in English parts of the Vietnamese Mass, thus I felt included in Mass.”

Other speakers included Mike Hebert from Saint Thomas Parish in Southington who remarked, “Thank God for opening our eyes and ears to let us see and hear how wonderful, rich, and fun your families and churches are.”

Ecuadorian American Carmen Rubio from Saint Joseph Parish in Bristol was moved by the experience. “The Mass was very beautiful,” he said. “They are a community of great faith. I was able to feel how they truly participated in the celebration of Mass as Pope Francis demands us. My prayers for all our brothers who are going through this difficult situation.”

Puerto Rican American Antonia Torres of Saint Augustine Parish in Hartford offered her own comments, highlighting many positive aspects of the Vietnamese community, including “their humbleness, the way they organize, their solemnity during Mass and the respect and dedication they have for their parish, the beautiful choir and the very kind priest Rev. Andy Mai. I am very grateful for the visit. For me it was a beautiful experience, as it was, to be in solidarity with them. This was an experience I have not had before. I did not understand the language, but I lived that Mass with such joy and felt the presence of God so close that I was truly humbled.”

Chilean American Ana Landskron also had a chance to express her heart-felt appreciation, saying, “Thank God for this wonderful opportunity you have given us today. From the very first moment, I felt welcomed… I was pleased to see my friends from other parishes together visiting the community of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac Parish. I feel the prayer of all parish leaders who were not able to come but pray for us from their cities while we were here. I feel that we were united in one God and were able to evangelize. It was a privilege to join this community.” Looking to the future, she also added, “I pray that many more moments like this will come.”

Multicultural leaders from around the Archdiocese of Hartford stand with Father Andy Mai, Pastor of St. Andrew Dung-Lac Parish.

The first of what the Office of Faith and Culture hopes will be many occasions of cultural encounter and recognizing the cultural, linguistic and racial differences within the archdiocese as a gift from God, the visit was a meaningful experience both for the Vietnamese community welcoming in these representatives from the Office of Faith and Culture and for those able to make this important visit. Father Tuan Anh Dinh (Andy) Mai summed up the opportunity to be together in a simple but powerful way:

Chúng tôi rất hân hạnh được đón tiếp quý vị.

 Estamos muy contentos de darle la bienvenida.

 We are very happy to welcome you.