KON TUM, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The bishop of a central diocese where missioners introduced the Gospel to tribal groups 160 years ago has urged local Catholics to pay more attention to training local priests, Religious and lay ministers.

Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh of Kontum ordains 12 priests, a record for the diocese since Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) priests introduced Catholicism to local tribal groups in 1848. He also led the Nov. 14 Mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Kon Tum, closing jubilee year celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Cuenot Center for tribal catechists. Retired Bishop Pierre Tran Thanh Chung and 170 priests were concelebrants of the Mass.

Around 1,500 tribal catechists, or yao phu, and 3,500 local Catholics from the Kinh (majority Vietnamese) and ethnic-minority communities attended on Nov 14 the closing ceremony of the jubilee year marking the 100th anniversary of Cuenot Center for yao phu.

The center, founded by Bishop Martial Jannin of Kontum on Jan. 7, 1908, trained hundreds of young ethnic-minority catechists who worked and evangelized in their people's villages in remote areas. Three ethnic Bahnar and two Kinh priests came through the center from its inception until 1977, when the communist government confiscated it. It has been used as a state-run teachers college since then.

Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh of Kontum led the closing Mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Kon Tum, 1,260 kilometers south of Ha Noi, with retired Bishop Pierre Tran Thanh Chung and 170 priests concelebrating.

During the special Mass, Bishop Oanh ordained 12 priests, a record for the diocese since Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) priest introduced Catholicism to local tribal groups in 1848.

The local Church celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Cuenot Center and 160th anniversary of local tribal groups receiving the Good News, "but today none of the newly ordained priests come from indigenous tribal families and eight of them are from other dioceses," Bishop Oanh told the congregation. "I feel terribly sad about it."

Noting the local Church's first and urgent priority is to train future priests, Religious and yao phu, he urged local Catholics to cooperate with the Church and donate for vocation development and formation work.

The 70-year-old prelate also asked local Catholics to pray for the government to return the Cuenot Center to the local Church soon. "We hope in the future the Church and the government will reach a proper way to resolve the problem, because the center is 100 years old," he stated.

The center, which sits near the cathedral, was named after Saint Stephen Theodore Cuenot, apostolic vicar of Cochin and then Eastern Cochin 1840-61. Quy Nhon diocese, established in 1960, descends from the vicariate. The MEP bishop died in prison on Nov. 14, 1861, and Pope John Paul II canonized him on June 19, 1988, as one of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. The martyr-saint sent missioners to begin evangelization in what is now Kontum diocese, and is patron of the tribal catechists.

Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh of Kontum leads the closing Mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Kon Tum, with retired Bishop Pierre Tran Thanh Chung and 170 priests concelebrating on Nov. 14.

A local Church source told UCA News that during the jubilee year, which ran from Nov. 14, 2007, to November 14, 2008, a total of 1,425 tribal catechists including 123 who formerly studied at the Cuenot Center attended 18 eight-day training courses held at the diocesan seminary. They studied Scripture, the history and regulations concerning yao phu and the history of the diocese, shared their pastoral work and visited historical Church sites.

The source recalled that after reunification under communist rule in 1975, foreign missioners were forced to leave the country and many Vietnamese priests and yao phu were put into prison or re-educated and banned from evangelization. Other tribal catechists tried to teach catechism, prayers and hymns, and share God's word in their villages. Many had to travel far, and some even walked hundreds of kilometers to parishes with resident priests to bring the Eucharist back to their villagers.

Due to increasing pastoral needs, the local Church trains ethnic minority villagers, including women, as yao phu in parishes. About 1,300 yao phu have been trained this way, the source added.

Hwiang, an ethnic Se Dang, told UCA News he and three other yao phu serve 500 villagers. The father of six said he teaches catechism and asks people to do good deeds and avoid bad habits.

The day before the jubilee Mass, Bishop Oanh led a special Mass at Plei Rohai church with local priests and catechists for deceased yao phu.

Kontum diocese has 244,000 Catholics, 140,000 of them belonging to ethnic-minority groups, among the 1.4 million residents of its 25,000-square-kilometer area. Serving them are 76 priests, including the 12 new priests, and 352 Religious brothers and sisters.

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