The latest beatified martyr from Vietnam was welcomed into the “mother church of Queens” and the hearts of its parishioners on July 12. Father Francis Xavier Truong Buu Diep, murdered in hatred of the faith in 1946, was venerated at the weekly Mass for Vietnamese Catholics at the oldest parish in Queens — Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria.
Families filled the parking lot at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Astoria, for the 17th annual Kids Fun Day from Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.
Religious freedom advocates are desperately seeking information on the whereabouts of 11 imprisoned Christians in Vietnam. Voice of the Martyrs-Canada recently said the men — six Protestants and five Catholics — were sentenced between 2011 and 2016 for “undermining national unity policy.” A spokesman said they should be home by now.
March 29 is the 50th anniversary of the U.S. military’s departure from Vietnam in 1973. Priests who were children at that time said the subsequent Communist victory two years did not end the Church there, but instead made Catholics more determined to grow their faith.
