Up to the present day, officially the Salesians of Vietnam has had a history of over 52 years. A history that is long, as well as epic and fruitful enough to draw admiration from many, as well as attention of those who are interested in Salesian history, as we are here in these days. Unluckily, because of the social and political turmoil of the country, most of the documents had been destroyed or lost, which certainly renders the writing down this history become a very challenging task. it is my task to present to you a short historical account of the first period of this glorious history. The beginning of the Salesian Work in Vetnam, of which, in using biblical expression, I would dare to give a subtitle: The Patriarchal story and the Exodus. The account that my presentation is dealing with covers a time-span of about 25 years, roughly from 1930 to 1955.
Ad oggi i Salesiani del Vietnam hanno una storia di oltre 52 anni. Una storia lunga, oltre che epica e fruttuosa tanto da suscitare l’ammirazione di molti, nonché l’attenzione di quanti si interessano alla storia salesiana, come in questo periodo storico. Sfortunatamente, a causa delle lotte sociali e politiche del paese, la maggior parte dei documenti è andata distrutta o è andata perduta, il che rende certamente la scrittura di questa storia un compito molto impegnativo. Il mio compito è quello di presentarvi un breve resoconto storico del primo periodo di questa gloriosa storia. L’inizio dell’Opera Salesiana in Vetnam, a cui usando un’espressione biblica, oserei dare un sottotitolo: La storia patriarcale e l’Esodo. Il resoconto di cui si occupa la mia presentazione copre un arco temporale di circa 25 anni, approssimativamente dal 1930 al 1955.
Indice:
- Introduction
- 1. Vietnam had longed for Don Bosco
- 2. First heroic attempt: the work and the death of Père Francisque Dupont
- 3. The precursor of Don Bosco: Msgr. Paul Seitz, MEP
- 4. Arrival of the Salesians
- 5. The great exodus or the transplant of the Salesian work
- Some reflections as conclusion
Reference time period: 1930 – 1955
J.N. Van Ty, The beginning of the salesian work in Vietnam: the patriarchal story and exodus, in N.C. Impelido, The beginning of the Salesian presence in east Asia. Acts of the Seminar on Salesian history, Hong Kong, 4-6 December 2004. Vol.I, Don Bosco Press Inc., Hong Kong, 2006, 165-177.
Reference institution:
ACSSA