HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catechetical committee officials from dioceses and congregations around the country have pledged to cooperate with each other in improving catechetical materials and training catechists.

The Vietnamese Catholic bishops' Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith brought together 127 representatives of catechetical committees from 20 dioceses and 25 Religious congregations Nov. 5-6 for its second national meeting.

Commission head Bishop Paul Bui Van Doc of My Tho presided over the meeting, held at his diocese's Pastoral Center in My Tho city, 1,781 kilometers south of Ha Noi. Coadjutor Bishop Stephanus Tri Buu Thien of Can Tho and Bishop-elect Pierre Nguyen Van Kham, who will serve as auxiliary bishop for Ho Chi Minh City archdiocese, also attended the meeting.

Participants compiled and exchanged materials they use for catechism. They also offered financial and personnel support to northern dioceses lacking adequate resources for catechechism-related activities.

Some, who spoke with UCA News on Nov. 7, noted this was the first time Religious congregations have been officially invited to take part in training catechists and compiling relevant materials. In the past, Religious were involved only in teaching catechism at parishes.

They said the group planned to finish a national Catholic catechism, while dioceses will design programs suitable for their own local conditions and culture.

Participants also proposed establishing centers for training catechists in dioceses and regional centers for the country's three ecclesiastical provinces.

Father Pierre Vo Ta Khanh, 61, a catechism expert who attended the meeting, told UCA News the local Church wants to improve its catechetical programs and increase Christian education among Catholics through parish-based catechism classes. The Church in Vietnam is not allowed to run education or health-care centers, and all such facilities were confiscated by the government after 1975, when the country was reunified under communist rule, he noted.

At the meeting, Father Pierre Le Van Ninh, former head of the episcopal commission's catechetical team, detailed the team's activities since the first national catechetical meeting, held in Nha Trang diocese two years ago. The team published the Vietnamese edition of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and has been completing the Vietnamese translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Catechetical commissions for Hue and Ho Chi Minh City archdioceses have translated foreign catechism materials into Vietnamese and compiled curricula for training catechists, he added.

Father Ninh, who also heads Nha Trang's diocesan catechetical committee, recalled they had asked the local Church to declare a year of catechism in order to raise Catholics' awareness about faith education. Since then, he said, Vietnam's bishops issued a letter on Christian education for this year and seminaries have focused attention on catechetical ministry.

Bishop-elect Kham, whose ordination is scheduled for Nov. 15, told the meeting that the episcopal commission plans to develop a special catechism program to mark next year's 50th anniversary of the Vietnamese Catholic hierarchy.

In groups, participants reviewed methods of teaching and studying catechism in their respective dioceses going back nearly 50 years. Before 1993, when retired Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi of Phan Thiet was chosen to head the national catechetical committee, catechism activities were limited or banned by the government, and students were asked to learn question-and-answer lessons by rote memorization.

Later, due to the government's more open religious policies, Nha Trang and Xuan Loc dioceses compiled new catechism programs that many dioceses are still using. Some dioceses and congregations now work together to develop programs and train catechists, some participants noted.

Father Jacob Dang Cong Anh, head of Qui Nhon diocese's catechetical committee, told UCA News that in the past, the catechism materials used by parishes in his diocese varied, so his committee asked them to use uniform materials starting this year.

At the end of the meeting, participants elected Father Pierre Nguyen Van Hien to head the episcopal commission's catechetical team.

According Church officials, the country's 26 dioceses have 60,000 volunteer catechists who work enthusiastically even if they lack adequate training.

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