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25-09-2006, 06:49 AM
November 14th
Saint Stephen Théodore THỂ
Bishop of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions
(1802-1861)
* Like Old Paul of the Past.
Saint Bishop Cuénot Thể’s 32 years of ministerial service to the Vietnamese Church with 26 years as bishop were deeply tied into the most beautiful pages of history during the most difficult period of the persecution. His fervent evangelization was like a tide rising up to all men and all places. With his skills, he trained a cadre of excellent priests and thousands of energetic catechists as well as nuns. With the philosophy of “For Christians to have strong faith, training of missionaries is a must,” no matter how many priests, religious, and lay Christians were killed, his Diocese of Tonkin still grew rapidly, enough to be carved into 4 separate dioceses. The number of priests, religious, and catechumens increased every year. They will forever be the proofs of his energy as well as his organizing talents.
Stephen Théodore Cuénot was born in 2/8/1802 in Sous-Réamont, Bélieu, France. Coming of age, he entered Bésancon seminary, Fr. Réceveur the training center, and was ordained on 9/24/1825. Nevertheless, the main goal of the fresh priest was missionary works. In 1828 Fr. Cuénot Thể joined the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, and was sent to Vietnam the following year. On 5/31/1829 he arrived in Kẻ Vĩnh in Diocese of Tonkin. Then on July 24th, he set out for the South.
At first he was sent to Lái Thiêu seminary to learn Vietnamese and to teach seminarians. After four years of teaching at the seminary, brief but enough time for him to understand local customs and to attach himself to future collaborators. In 1833 King Minh Mạng decreed a nationwide Christian persecution, demolishing churches, amassing foreign missionaries, and forcing Christians to renounce their faith. Dealing with the persecution for the first time, Christians did not dare harboring missionaries. Bishop Tabert Từ decided to relocate them to Thailand. Fr. Cuénot Thể was responsible for 15 seminarians. After an arduous month-long trip, everyone reached Thailand and was welcomed warmly by the king of Thailand.
At this time Thailand and Vietnam were at war, so the king of Thailand had wanted foreign missionaries to urge Vietnamese Catholics to rebel against King Minh Mạng. Of course, Bishop Tabert Từ did not agree to this suggestion and unequivocally refused to go along. That made the king really mad and changed his attitude. He ordered the three priests and Vietnamese seminarians put in jail. Fortunately due to Fr. Cuénot Thể’s diplomatic and persuation skills, the king eased up and allowed them refuge at Penang seminary (Malaysia) in 1834. Fr. Cuénot Thể said:
“At any price we have to take care of them. If a missionary such as I dies, a replacement could be sent within a year at the latest. A Vietnamese priest or seminarian falling dead is different, it will take 20 to 30 years to find a replacement.”
That same year, because he did not support Thailand in its war with Vietnam, Bishop Tabert Từ had to go to Singapore.
* Lighthouse In the Storm.
Although separated by thousands of miles, the bishop, Fr. Cuénot Thể and the missionaries still had their heart in Vietnam where the Vietnamese Church was facing the misery of heads chopped and blood spilled. With sympathy and admiration, they searched for ways to return to this soil of evangelization. In 1835 Bishop Tabert Từ came up with a new decision. Knowing that there were only two missionaries and 10 Vietnamese priests left in Vietnam, the bishop traveled to Penang by boat, ordained Fr. Cuénot Thể a bishop, appointed him auxiliary bishop, and right away sent him back to the diocese.
Bishop Cuénot Thể’s presence in Vietnam during most violent days of the persecution was a big consolation to the Christians. Setting up his office in Gò Thị, Bình Định province, the bishop sent pastoral letters to parishes encouraging Christians to be religious. From this moment on, all events occurred in the diocese, from raids by the authorities, to arrests, executions, and ministerial success stories, were felt and sympathized by the bishop who wrote letters of praise, of consolation or encouragement. As a result, priests as well as the faithful gained more courage.
His greatest concern was the number of active priests. Besides the two priests who came with him from Thailand, in 1835 the bishop ordained 10 catechists to the priesthood. The following year, he asked and received another six priests from the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. Being a wise visionary, he re-established two seminaries, one in Huế under the direction of Fr. Candalh Kim, and one in the South under the guidance of Fr. Lefèbvre Nghĩa. At the same time, he called the nuns (250) of the Lovers of the Cross order who were sent home earlier, to come back to work out of 18 convents.
On 7/31/1840 Bishop Tabert Từ passed away in Calcutta, India. Bishop Cuénot Thể became the official administrative bishop representing the Holy See. The following year, he celebrated the ordination mass to ordain Fr. Lefèbvre Nghĩa a bishop and appointed his assistant. Taking advantage of a calm period during the persecution, he convened a conference in Gò Thị (1841) including 3 foreign missionaries and 13 Vietnamese priests of the diocese [1] (http://www.gpnt.net/diendan/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=14#_ftn1). The conference was participated energetically by many native priests. If opening a seminary continued to be a difficulty, each foreign missionary was responsible to train 6 or 7 seminarians, and sent them to Penang seminary to further their education for 7 more years. They would return to Vietnam to be ordained and to work. In fact, this arrangement had provided many educated and devout priests to the Diocese of Tonkin.
* A Skillful and Innovative Shepherd.
Even though the time was hard, the bishop still paid attention to elevating the knowledge and virtue of the clergy. Every year, he sent priests lessons on faith and morality on which priests would have to write reports and handed back to him during their yearly retreat. The bishop then read, made corrections and sent advises back individually. Toward lay Christians, the bishop maintained: “The best method for Christians to have a strong faith is to make them into evangelists.” In fact, by explaining catechism to others, Christians became more knowledgeable and confident of their faith. Moreover, they became more conscious of their responsibility to be examples of Christian life and resolved to profess faith to new converts.
To those Christians who had trampled on the crucifix out of fear, the bishop readily forgave them in the name of Christ, with one condition that they promised to help convert one non-believer. Along that same line, he published statistics on the number of converts of each parish, arousing the competitive spirit among parishes to reach out to non-believers. Collaborating in the bishop’s exhortation of evangelization, the courage and dedication of the Sisters of the Lovers of the Cross was especially noteworthy. They, in groups of two, fanned out to all the outlying villages, offering medicines to the sick, and if opportunities arose, baptized dying children. In 1835, when the bishop just arrived in Vietnam, the number of non-Christians baptized was 133; it increased to 1800 in 1841, and to 8273 in 1843. In 1844 the number of children from Catholic families baptized was 5056, and the number of adults being converted was 1007, so the ratio was 1/5.
Many of the faithful readily offered money as well as took in children from poor families on the condition that they could be converted. These acts of charity were eloquent sermons on the vigorous life of the Church. Many persons and, occasionally, the children’s parents asked to be converted due to these living sermons.
Another great project of Bishop Cuénot Thể was the evangelization to the minorities in the highland areas, especially to the Bahnar people. The bishop sent many groups of evangelists with the appropriate instructions to follow, teach, and to help these Montagnards receive the Gospel’s light.
Bishop’s extensive successes were well appreciated by the Vatican in 1844 when the Diocese of Cochin China was split into two: east vicariate of Cochin China (Quy Nhơn) and west vicariate of Cochin China (Saigon) which were split again in 1850 to make a total of four dioceses: south vicariate (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), west vicariate (Saigon), north vicariate (Huế), and east vicariate (Quy Nhơn). From then on, Bishop Cuénot Thể ministered only to the east vicariate (Quy Nhơn), but under much more intense persecutions.
Saint Stephen Théodore THỂ
Bishop of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions
(1802-1861)
* Like Old Paul of the Past.
Saint Bishop Cuénot Thể’s 32 years of ministerial service to the Vietnamese Church with 26 years as bishop were deeply tied into the most beautiful pages of history during the most difficult period of the persecution. His fervent evangelization was like a tide rising up to all men and all places. With his skills, he trained a cadre of excellent priests and thousands of energetic catechists as well as nuns. With the philosophy of “For Christians to have strong faith, training of missionaries is a must,” no matter how many priests, religious, and lay Christians were killed, his Diocese of Tonkin still grew rapidly, enough to be carved into 4 separate dioceses. The number of priests, religious, and catechumens increased every year. They will forever be the proofs of his energy as well as his organizing talents.
Stephen Théodore Cuénot was born in 2/8/1802 in Sous-Réamont, Bélieu, France. Coming of age, he entered Bésancon seminary, Fr. Réceveur the training center, and was ordained on 9/24/1825. Nevertheless, the main goal of the fresh priest was missionary works. In 1828 Fr. Cuénot Thể joined the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, and was sent to Vietnam the following year. On 5/31/1829 he arrived in Kẻ Vĩnh in Diocese of Tonkin. Then on July 24th, he set out for the South.
At first he was sent to Lái Thiêu seminary to learn Vietnamese and to teach seminarians. After four years of teaching at the seminary, brief but enough time for him to understand local customs and to attach himself to future collaborators. In 1833 King Minh Mạng decreed a nationwide Christian persecution, demolishing churches, amassing foreign missionaries, and forcing Christians to renounce their faith. Dealing with the persecution for the first time, Christians did not dare harboring missionaries. Bishop Tabert Từ decided to relocate them to Thailand. Fr. Cuénot Thể was responsible for 15 seminarians. After an arduous month-long trip, everyone reached Thailand and was welcomed warmly by the king of Thailand.
At this time Thailand and Vietnam were at war, so the king of Thailand had wanted foreign missionaries to urge Vietnamese Catholics to rebel against King Minh Mạng. Of course, Bishop Tabert Từ did not agree to this suggestion and unequivocally refused to go along. That made the king really mad and changed his attitude. He ordered the three priests and Vietnamese seminarians put in jail. Fortunately due to Fr. Cuénot Thể’s diplomatic and persuation skills, the king eased up and allowed them refuge at Penang seminary (Malaysia) in 1834. Fr. Cuénot Thể said:
“At any price we have to take care of them. If a missionary such as I dies, a replacement could be sent within a year at the latest. A Vietnamese priest or seminarian falling dead is different, it will take 20 to 30 years to find a replacement.”
That same year, because he did not support Thailand in its war with Vietnam, Bishop Tabert Từ had to go to Singapore.
* Lighthouse In the Storm.
Although separated by thousands of miles, the bishop, Fr. Cuénot Thể and the missionaries still had their heart in Vietnam where the Vietnamese Church was facing the misery of heads chopped and blood spilled. With sympathy and admiration, they searched for ways to return to this soil of evangelization. In 1835 Bishop Tabert Từ came up with a new decision. Knowing that there were only two missionaries and 10 Vietnamese priests left in Vietnam, the bishop traveled to Penang by boat, ordained Fr. Cuénot Thể a bishop, appointed him auxiliary bishop, and right away sent him back to the diocese.
Bishop Cuénot Thể’s presence in Vietnam during most violent days of the persecution was a big consolation to the Christians. Setting up his office in Gò Thị, Bình Định province, the bishop sent pastoral letters to parishes encouraging Christians to be religious. From this moment on, all events occurred in the diocese, from raids by the authorities, to arrests, executions, and ministerial success stories, were felt and sympathized by the bishop who wrote letters of praise, of consolation or encouragement. As a result, priests as well as the faithful gained more courage.
His greatest concern was the number of active priests. Besides the two priests who came with him from Thailand, in 1835 the bishop ordained 10 catechists to the priesthood. The following year, he asked and received another six priests from the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. Being a wise visionary, he re-established two seminaries, one in Huế under the direction of Fr. Candalh Kim, and one in the South under the guidance of Fr. Lefèbvre Nghĩa. At the same time, he called the nuns (250) of the Lovers of the Cross order who were sent home earlier, to come back to work out of 18 convents.
On 7/31/1840 Bishop Tabert Từ passed away in Calcutta, India. Bishop Cuénot Thể became the official administrative bishop representing the Holy See. The following year, he celebrated the ordination mass to ordain Fr. Lefèbvre Nghĩa a bishop and appointed his assistant. Taking advantage of a calm period during the persecution, he convened a conference in Gò Thị (1841) including 3 foreign missionaries and 13 Vietnamese priests of the diocese [1] (http://www.gpnt.net/diendan/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=14#_ftn1). The conference was participated energetically by many native priests. If opening a seminary continued to be a difficulty, each foreign missionary was responsible to train 6 or 7 seminarians, and sent them to Penang seminary to further their education for 7 more years. They would return to Vietnam to be ordained and to work. In fact, this arrangement had provided many educated and devout priests to the Diocese of Tonkin.
* A Skillful and Innovative Shepherd.
Even though the time was hard, the bishop still paid attention to elevating the knowledge and virtue of the clergy. Every year, he sent priests lessons on faith and morality on which priests would have to write reports and handed back to him during their yearly retreat. The bishop then read, made corrections and sent advises back individually. Toward lay Christians, the bishop maintained: “The best method for Christians to have a strong faith is to make them into evangelists.” In fact, by explaining catechism to others, Christians became more knowledgeable and confident of their faith. Moreover, they became more conscious of their responsibility to be examples of Christian life and resolved to profess faith to new converts.
To those Christians who had trampled on the crucifix out of fear, the bishop readily forgave them in the name of Christ, with one condition that they promised to help convert one non-believer. Along that same line, he published statistics on the number of converts of each parish, arousing the competitive spirit among parishes to reach out to non-believers. Collaborating in the bishop’s exhortation of evangelization, the courage and dedication of the Sisters of the Lovers of the Cross was especially noteworthy. They, in groups of two, fanned out to all the outlying villages, offering medicines to the sick, and if opportunities arose, baptized dying children. In 1835, when the bishop just arrived in Vietnam, the number of non-Christians baptized was 133; it increased to 1800 in 1841, and to 8273 in 1843. In 1844 the number of children from Catholic families baptized was 5056, and the number of adults being converted was 1007, so the ratio was 1/5.
Many of the faithful readily offered money as well as took in children from poor families on the condition that they could be converted. These acts of charity were eloquent sermons on the vigorous life of the Church. Many persons and, occasionally, the children’s parents asked to be converted due to these living sermons.
Another great project of Bishop Cuénot Thể was the evangelization to the minorities in the highland areas, especially to the Bahnar people. The bishop sent many groups of evangelists with the appropriate instructions to follow, teach, and to help these Montagnards receive the Gospel’s light.
Bishop’s extensive successes were well appreciated by the Vatican in 1844 when the Diocese of Cochin China was split into two: east vicariate of Cochin China (Quy Nhơn) and west vicariate of Cochin China (Saigon) which were split again in 1850 to make a total of four dioceses: south vicariate (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), west vicariate (Saigon), north vicariate (Huế), and east vicariate (Quy Nhơn). From then on, Bishop Cuénot Thể ministered only to the east vicariate (Quy Nhơn), but under much more intense persecutions.