Asian, Pacific Catholics bring much to church, says priest

Published: 2006-07-05

ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- What U.S. Catholics from Asia and the Pacific islands bring to the church is vitally important, Father Peter C. Phan said July 3 at the first National Asian and Pacific Catholic Convocation. And they bring much, he said, from their ancestors who shed blood dying for the faith to a strong practice of popular devotions that animates their faith life, from their experiences of "the fruits of mission" and interreligious dialogue to the long history they have in this country as lay leaders who have pushed church leaders to meet the spiritual needs of their communities. The "radical denial of self" seen in the martyrdom of Asia's saints and "hundreds and hundreds" of others not canonized is a vital message for a U.S. culture "obsessed with self-fulfillment," the priest added. He called Asian and Pacific Catholics the "pioneers of interreligious dialogue." Coming from Hindu, Buddhist and other cultures, "we have Confucian DNA in our souls," he said. In a plenary address, Father Phan, a theologian who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975, gave "a bird's-eye view" of "where we came from ... where we are now ... where we are going in the near future." He is a priest of the Dallas Diocese who holds the Ellacuria chair of Catholic social thought at Georgetown University.

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