HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam: The sick and disabled were the focus of an interfaith gathering on Saturday [Feb. 6], the first of its kind in Ho Chi Minh City.

Michael Nguyen Ba Loc, who is paralyzed from the waist down, said that the prayer service at the compound of Ho Chi Minh City archdiocesan Pastoral Center, had encouraged him and provided spiritual strength.

Loc, 47, a Catholic, was one of 600 people with physical disabilities, HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases at the event, attended by 8,000 Catholics and members of other faiths.

Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City, Auxiliary Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Kham, together with Buddhist and Protestant leaders attended the event. They were joined by leaders of Cao Dai and Hoa Hao. Cao Dai, a syncretic belief system, and Hoa Hao, a Buddhist sect, were both founded in Vietnam.

Patients shared their experiences of prayer and how to live with their illnesses and attended Eucharistic adoration.
Power of prayer the best medicine

The various religious leaders also prayed according to their own traditions.

One of them, Ngoc Day Thanh, a Cao Dai cleric, said he prayed to God, the Blessed Mother and other gods to heal patients. All religions serve patients and the underprivileged, he said.

Cardinal Man told the congregation that the event “aims to create an opportunity for followers of different faiths to show their solidarity with patients and pray to God to heal them physically and spiritually.”

The country has 300,000 people with HIV/AIDS and millions suffering serious diseases, he noted.

Thai Thoi Thanh, a Cao Dai follower, said “I come here to pray for patients to have peace of mind and strength to live with their diseases.”

Thanh, 66, described the prayer gathering as the “best medicine” for patients. The event also encourages followers of local faiths to work with one another and serve patients, he added.

Courtesy: UCAN