UCA News
Contribute

Attending to the poorest among them

Disabled group provides material, spiritual support
Attending to the poorest among them
Peter Nguyen Thach at a special Mass held for parishioners with physical disabilities
Published: July 28, 2011 11:07 AM GMT
Updated: July 28, 2011 11:11 AM GMT

Hundreds of Catholics with disabilities receive material and spiritual support from a Church initiative that seeks to better integrate them into the community of the faithful and provide sustainable incomes for their daily lives. Teresa Le Thi Lan, who has endured paralysis of both her legs since her birth, says she pays regular visits to other parishioners with disabilities as a member of the Apostolic Group of Disabled People in Da Nang. Lan, 34, who embraced Catholicism last October, said she was given a wheelchair, sewing machine and vocational training by the group. “I am deeply grateful to this … group that has changed my life for the better,” she said. Lan is one of 200 people with physical disabilities that comprise the Apostolic Group. Peter Nguyen Thach, who lost his right leg as a child during the Vietnam War, founded the Apostolic Group in 1998 with three others to help disabled people overcome challenges in their daily lives. “We are very happy that our group includes Buddhists, Protestants and people without faith who pay weekly visits to one another and gather twice a month at Da Nang Cathedral’s hall to share God’s Word as well as their joys and sorrows,” Thach said. Thach said members donate 2,000 dong (US$0.10) per day and use the money to assist the five poorest people in the parish to find a means of earning a living. He added that 14 non-Catholic members have since converted. Three local priests and two nuns provide support for the group, while eight laypeople assist in the transport of disabled parishioners to Sunday Mass, he said.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia