SA PA, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Difficulties with the local government did not deter ethnic Hmong Catholics in a northern Vietnamese parish from attending a special Mass celebrating the reconstruction of their 80-year-old church.

About 2,000 Hmong, dressed in traditional attire, attended the Oct. 24 Mass at Sa Pa Church in the resort town of the same name in Lao Cai province, some 400 kilometers north of Ha Noi.

"We thank God for everything. Despite government disapproval, local Catholics attended the Mass as well as sang and danced in church," Father Pierre Pham Thanh Binh, the parish priest, told UCA News.

Father Binh is the first pastor since 1950, when communists exiled the previous parish priest, a foreigner.

"We are happy that the church's restoration, which took five months, is complete," Father Binh said. Praying for fine weather, no accidents and no difficulty from the government, parishioners worked hard and provided free labor, the 36-year-old priest added.

The Hmong Catholics who account for all but a few of the parishioners live anywhere from eight to 12 kilometers from the church.

Father Binh, who was assigned to this parish in April 2006, said local authorities initially disapproved of renovating the whole church, permitting the parish only to repair cracks in the walls.

After repeated petitions, Sa Pa officials agreed to allow the restoration. But soon after work started, Lao Cai provincial officials said permission from the province is required for restoration work costing 500 million dong (US$31,250) and more. Work was suspended for a month until the parish obtained this permission, Father Binh said.

According to the priest, the 342-square-meter church's stone walls, roof and sanctuary had to be pulled down and rebuilt, for which the parish even bought stone from a neighboring province. The 36-meter-high belfry, he said, was the only part of the church that was not in bad condition.

The newly restored church has a tiled roof and 32 stained-glass windows depicting mysteries of the rosary, the Stations of the Cross and saints. The old wooden altar was replaced with a new stone one. The restoration cost 1 billion dong, Father Binh said.

When it was finished, the parish planned to hold a dedication ceremony at which Bishop Antoine Vu Huy Chuong of Hung Hoa would bless the new altar and church, the priest narrated. Local government authorities, however, refused permission for such a ceremony, saying that the event was only a renovation and not a new church.

Father Binh expressed his hope that Bishop Chuong would visit and bless the church in the near future.

Hung Hoa diocese covers all or part of 10 northwestern mountain provinces including Lao Cai.

During the Oct. 24 Mass, Father Pierre Phung Van Ton, Hung Hoa vicar general, blessed the wooden tabernacle and Hmong children danced, sang hymns in the Hmong language and offered flowers to a Marian statue. After Mass, they staged a cultural performance and provided traditional food for visitors and tourists, who held each other's hands and danced around a fire in the church compound.

Parish council head John Lo A Thong, 72, told UCA News: "Although we are poor, we provided our labor to restore the church, which is part of our ancestors' faith heritage." He said his grandfather was one of the first four Hmong baptized in the area by Hmong and French missioners from Thailand.

The missioners worked in the area from 1850. In 1902, French Bishop Paul-Marie Ramond, the first bishop of Hung Hoa diocese, established the parish. The bishop retired in 1938 but served the parish until his death in 1944.

The parish had 30 Catholics when it started but now has 1,850 Hmong Catholics. About 150 Kinh (majority Vietnamese) Catholics, mostly from Sa Pa town, also are members.

Monica Nguyen Thi Vui, 88, the eldest Kinh woman in the parish, told UCA News that after the communists took control of the north and many local Catholics left for other places, the church was abandoned and people stole its roof tiles and doors. The Catholics who remained were afraid to gather for prayers at church or to keep religious statues at home, Vui recalled.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)