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Vietnamese in America gather
for Marian Days celebration
By OSCAR AVILA - The Kansas City Star
Date: 08/11/00 22:15
CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Dien Nguyen could not find peace in Vietnam, even after the war
ended, even after his family's meals were no longer interrupted by explosions
and dashes for shelter.
The victorious Communists made it impossible for Nguyen to profess his Catholic
faith without fear of punishment.
That's why the Raytown man and his countrymen find such joy in Marian Days, a
four-day celebration that has brought about 50,000 Vietnamese Catholics from
around the world to this small Ozarks town. Marian Days began Thursday and will
wrap up on Sunday.
"Our faith is something we carry in here," Nguyen said, pointing to his heart.
"We feel fortunate to be able to express that."
Twenty-five years after the war ended, Vietnamese Catholics continue to thrive
in this unlikely haven. Their seminary, the Congregation of the Mother
Co-Redemptrix, has organized Marian Days since 1977.
At Marian Days, lively pop music blares from tents -- most of the visitors will
camp on the 30-acre seminary grounds. Teen-agers whiz by on skateboards while
families share tea with old friends.
A choir's songs echo on the main square. Several dozen priests hear confessions
in a park dotted with trees. In the chapel, worshipers solemnly light candles to
honor loved ones.
Frivolity and faith emanate from every corner of this sprawling campus.
Several participants say adversity has strengthened that faith, since the days
when it seemed bombs were all the heavens had to offer.
In the main plaza, the congregation erected a massive statue of the Virgin Mary
as patron of refugees. The baby Jesus rests on her shoulder. A Vietnamese child
reaches for her waist. Mary draws him in with her hand.
Fleeing to new land "The church in Vietnam wrote her history with her own
blood,"
reads a caption at a campus center that honors Vietnamese martyrs. The Co-Redemptrix
community shared that legacy.
When Saigon fell, about 185 community members piled into boats and sailed east.
An American cargo ship picked them up and, after a time, authorities brought
them to Fort Chafee, Ark.
The bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese heard of their plight and
gave them an unused seminary in Carthage. After faltering initially, the
congregation has rebounded to more than 200 priests and brothers.
Father Anthony McGuire of the National Catholic Bishops' Conference, who
oversees pastoral care for migrants and refugees, compares the community to the
Poles, who suffered under Nazi and Communist oppression.
"That tends to draw people together. You see that in Carthage," he said.
Brother Thomas Dien puts it this way: "These are people who lived a hard life.
They need something to lean on. They may have come with no job, no money. So
they lean on their faith."
The congregation started Marian Days to thank Mary for her protection. About
1,700 attended the inaugural event. Early accounts describe picketing and taunts
from local residents.
Dien says some neighbors have moved, in part, to avoid the hubbub of the
festival. Several complain of traffic. Some homeowners blanket their front yards
with bright red "Keep Out" signs.
Unease grew in 1995 when a Louisiana teen-ager was arrested in Joplin for the
gang-related shooting of another event participant.
For the most part, however, the event has become part of the town's heritage,
like the Civil War battlefield nearby. Carthage has created a citywide holiday,
Vietnamese Day, even though the number of Vietnamese residents still is
relatively small. Townspeople visit to sample the gantlet of food tents. Several
neighbors even open their front yards for camping.
As jobs in poultry plants and agriculture bring a stream of immigrants from
Mexico and southeast Asia, some say Carthage could be a preview of the changing
face of southwest Missouri.
From 1980 to 1997, the Vietnamese population in America quadrupled to more than
1 million. The numbers also are growing in Missouri -- the 1990 census estimated
3,870 Vietnamese statewide, 25th highest in the nation.
"There's a lesson to be learned from Carthage," McGuire said. "If you're open to
it, these people are a gift. The changes are something that enrich your life,
rather than hold you back."
Although the Ozarks and Vietnam are worlds apart, participants say the event
also addresses rifts within the Vietnamese community.
Indeed, Vietnam is a country of contrasts, a crossroads of ancient traditions
and modern influences. Many Vietnamese still are divided by ideology, geography
or religion.
Most of the 80 million residents are Buddhist, with Catholics comprising only
about 10 percent of the population. Some, including the government, consider
Catholicism a religion of "superstitions."
For those in the United States, Marian Days has become a unifying cultural
force.
Vendors create small bazaars to sell CDs, religious icons and imported
knicknacks. Churches sell sandwiches, entrees and pastries. Musicians play
traditional and modern tunes.
An Le of Joplin said only about a third of the 250 event participants from his
hometown are Catholic. The rest are Buddhist or of other religions. He said the
event highlights their similarities, not their conflicts.
"We all have the same struggles," he said.
And organizers are amazed at how Marian Days bridges the gap between
first-generation Vietnamese and their U.S.-born children.
The contrast is clear. A middle-aged woman in a traditional gown shares sidewalk
space with a tattooed teen wearing a Kobe Bryant basketball jersey. She
converses in Vietnamese, he in English slang.
Organizers tailor events to specific groups: the elderly, families and youth. A
poster with teen idol Christina Aguilera advertised Friday night's "holy rave,"
a dance party starting at midnight.
"There's usually a generation gap in Vietnamese families," Dien said. "This
gives them some family time, camping together, praying together. They can get
away from the TV, the jobs and all the distractions."
The bilingual Masses are at the event's core.
At the opening ceremony, Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau
diocese told worshipers of how God helped Moses and his people survive the
grueling desert journey to the Promised Land.
"He is always with us," Leibrecht said.
Nguyen already knows that. The Raytown man vividly recalls his own perilous
six-day journey on a shrimp boat with 50 other refugees crossing the South China
Sea from Vietnam to the Philippines.
"All we knew is that we were the bait of the sharks. We only had one place to
turn," he said. "That's why people are here today, to give thanks to God. It's
our faith that got us through all of this."
To reach Oscar Avila, Missouri correspondent for The Star, call (816) 234-4902
or send e-mail to oavila@kcstar.com
All content © 2005 The Kansas City Star
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