Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan 28, 2009 / 02:37 am
A joint group of U.S. and Vietnamese clergy concelebrated Mass for Tet, the first day of the Lunar New Year in the Archdiocese of Hue in central Vietnam on Monday. The occasion marks the first time in decades that Catholics from the archdiocese could join foreign clergy in the celebration.
Archbishop of Hue Stephen Nguyen Nhu The and hundreds of Vietnamese priests concelebrated the Monday evening Mass with the U.S. delegation, Fr. J.B. An Dang tells CNA. Tens of thousands filled Phu Cam cathedral in Hue for the Mass.
The U.S. delegation was led by Archbishop of San Francisco George Niederauer and included Bishops Todd Brown of Orange, Dan Walsh of Santa Rosa, and Ignatius Chung Wang, an auxiliary bishop of San Francisco.
On Sunday the American delegation had concelebrated Mass for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul with Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri and priests from the Diocese of Danang, about 50 miles south of Hue.