HUE, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catholics in central Vietnam welcomed Thai Catholics to their parish to celebrate Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, about 500 parishioners waved roses and carnations, and wished "Merry Christmas" to two priests, three nuns and 13 lay Catholics, all from three parishes in Bangkok archdiocese.

After drinking tea and having cake at the Gia Hoi parish house in Hue, 660 kilometers south of Ha Noi, Father Pierre Phan Xuan Thanh, the parish priest, took the guests to visit 10 Nativity scenes erected by parishioners at their homes.

Catherine Vamida Phophaisan, a Thai Catholic, told UCA News she appreciated the scenes depicting Jesus' birth scenes but found local Catholics' filial duty to their ancestors more impressive. "They put candles, flowers and incense on altars for their ancestors," she noted.

Vamida said her parish priest in Bangkok asked her to learn about local religious practices and ways of making Nativity scenes, since the archdiocese has about 1,000 Vietnamese-Thai Catholics.

Elizabeth Phongsri, another visitor, told UCA News that her ancestors moved to Thailand at the end of the 19th century to avoid persecution by imperial Vietnamese soldiers.

The Vietnamese-Thai Catholic expressed her appreciation of the Nativity scenes, for which people put statues of the Infant Jesus, Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph in a small thatched hut surrounded by animals and bamboo.

Elizabeth observed that Thai people too erect these scenes, but generally set them in a small house on stilts surrounded by coconut or banana trees and include a hen hatching eggs. A hen hatching eggs means God loves and protects his people from bad things, she explained.

Father Thanh told UCA News he met Elizabeth in Bangkok in 2007 and invited her to visit his parish during Christmas. "I want Vietnamese-Thai Catholics to understand Vietnamese religious traditions. I also want to remind them about making Nativity scenes at home," the priest said. In his view, this Christmas tradition is an effective way for Catholics to pass on their faith to younger generations.

Elizabeth said she visits Hue and Ha Noi two or three times a year and buys statues of Our Lady of La Vang for Thai Catholics, whom she described as very devoted to the Blessed Mother. Many Vietnamese Marian prayers are translated into Thai, she added.

According to Father Thanh, the Thai visitors bought 15 statues of Our Lady of La Vang to give to Bangkok parishes having Vietnamese-Thai Catholics.

During their visit to Vietnam Dec. 24-29, the Thai visitors offered gifts to children in Hue. They also visited the national Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Quang Tri province, 60 kilometers north of Hue, and other religious sites in Ninh Binh province and Ha Noi.

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