Pastoral Letters
Pastoral Letters (Title in Italian: Le Lettere Pastorali), Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013.
As Bishop of the Diocese of Nha Trang, F.X. Nguyên Van Thuân wrote annual letters to the priests, religious, seminarians and lay faithful of his Diocese. In them, he communicated the principal orientations for his pastoral ministry and encouraged his readers to live their faith authentically and creatively, confronting it with the economic, social, and political problems of the time, such as secularization, communism, freemasonry, and capitalism. In his letters, Van Thuân emphasizes human and Christian values such as justice, peace, reconciliation, interior renewal, charity. He calls the lay faithful to follow Christ with courage and generosity, following the examples of martyrs and missionaries. It should be noted that from the beginning of his ministry, F.X. Nguyên Van Thuân had a clear vision of Vietnamese society in transformation and displayed a profound conviction of the Vatican Council’s call to spiritual renewal, mission, and the concrete commitment to build a dignified human society according to God’s plan.
The Letters were entitled:
- Watch and Pray (1968)
- Be Strong in the Faith, Advance in Peace (1969)
- Justice and Peace (1970)
- The Mission of Christ is Our Mission (1970)
- Third Centenary (1971)
- The Jubilee of Renewal and Reconciliation (1973)