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Vietnamese archdiocese opens doors to autism sufferers

Special provisions by Ho Chi Minh City Archdiocese to help them encounter God
Vietnamese archdiocese opens doors to autism sufferers

Anna Nguyen Thi Xuan Hong (second left) holds her son while Jesuit Father Joseph Dao Nguyen Vu blesses him at a special Mass for people with autism in Ho Chi Minh City. (ucanews.com photo)

Published: April 04, 2017 09:16 AM GMT
Updated: April 04, 2017 09:23 AM GMT

Ho Chi Minh City Archdiocese is helping people with autism take part in catechism and communion, starting with a special service on World Autism Awareness Day.

Some 80 people, including 30 people with autism, attended the event "Faith Encounter with Autistic People" held by Caritas at Ho Chi Minh City Pastoral Center on April 1.

"Let children, especially those who have special situations come to God because He wants to meet them. Let them naturally show their feelings to God because He wants them to find the freedom He gives to human beings," Jesuit Father Joseph Dao Nguyen Vu said during a special Mass.

He said the archdiocesan Committee for Catechism will teach autistic people who want to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation and First Communion. After the Mass, 20 people with autism registered for the catechism classes.

Anna Nguyen Thi Xuan Hong was pleased. "Now I believe that my son will receive his First Communion in the future," she said, smiling as her autistic son registered.

Hong said her son can play the piano and ride a bicycle. She patiently works with him and teaches him life skills. "If people with autism are not looked after well they will live a life of animals," she said.

 

A woman with children at the "Faith Encounter with Autistic People" event held by Caritas at Ho Chi Minh City Pastoral Center on April 1. (ucanews.com photo)

 

Mary Tieu My Linh, whose 17-year-old daughter has autism, said when her daughter was a child she cried loudly during Mass and other churchgoers forced them out. Linh and her daughter did not go to church for years.

Linh, who spends all her time looking after her daughter at home, said she never dared ask parish priests to allow her daughter to attend catechism classes for fear they would deny her but now she has hope.

"We hope the local church will organize Sunday Masses for autistic people and train them to serve as altar boys as a way to give them an education in faith," she said.

Other parents shared their difficulties, particularly how much time it takes them to care for their children. They are in between a rock and a hard place because public schools refuse to admit autistic pupils but they cannot afford to send them to private schools.

It is hard for the 200,000 people with autism to integrate into Vietnamese society and live independently because there are few public vocational centers for them. The counter this, the archdiocese hopes to provide them some independence in their faith.

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