General Chapter Biên Hoà 2019 – 12 July

At 7:00am, the capitulars celebrated Vietnamese Mass. Brother Bonifacio Garcia Solis gave homily reminding everyone to treasure the chosen vocation and live it to the end, following the footsteps of our Martyr Brother Ignatius Delgado Y.

After breakfast, the capitulars, after invoking St Dominic with “O Lumen,” began their interview “Tractatus” with the proposed candidates at 9:00am. From now until the election tomorrow, each capitular are praying and asking for enlightening graces to make decision. The session lasted until 12:30pm.

At 3:30pm, …, Professor of Religion, delivered a lecture, “Towards a dialogical world based on intercultural and interreligious understanding.” A graduate of Harvard University, Dr Duong shared his experiences on the defense of Pope John Paul II’s “Crossing the threshold of Hope.” He resented those who criticized the Holy Father. He started writing and came up with two books on upholding the beliefs of people that have to be respected. Dialogs between people of different faiths have to be characterized by understanding the religious traditions of each other, humble acceptance of the fact that the other one is a partner for a dialog that would take both partners an instrument of love.

There was an open forum where some capitulars raised points of clarification and elaboration. Brothers shared their own experiences of their ministries in Sri Lanka, Egypt, and other non-Christian country. The esteem lecturer shared an inspiring session.

The day ended with a retreat. The capitulars put themselves in the presence of Holy Father St. Dominic and humbly asked for pardon in the sacrament of reconciliation.