Big waves of Vietnamese risked their lives to escape from the country again by launching small boats into the stormy ocean and crying for help from the free world.
The United Nations made a great effort to relocate those Vietnamese to different countries. The United States had given the most help to Vietnamese refugees in their rescue mission from 1975 to 1990.
Among the refugees, the highest percentage were Vietnamese Catholics who had dared to start their journey of faith. All of them had the experiences of God’s hand in the most difficult times in life. The Vietnamese Catholic population in Diocese of San Bernardino started to increase in greater numbers in the early 1980s. They chose to settle their new home throughout the counties of San Bernardino and Riverside.
Only a few Vietnamese Catholics were present for the Ordination of founding Bishop Phillip Straling. However, we believed it to be a blessing from God that Vietnamese refugees coming to the United States could become part of a Diocese where we can share the journey of faith and integrate with many new ethnic and racial communities into parish life.
The Vietnamese Catholics communities in many parishes are grateful to be under the shepherd, the Bishop of San Bernardino, since the beginning of its history. This benefits those who have very limited English, that they can feel more comfortable to attend Sunday Mass in their own language with a Vietnamese priest. They can also celebrate together traditional events of the Vietnamese culture even though they are far away from the homeland. At the same time, the Vietnamese youth has learned the bible and catechism in English, under the guidance of the Diocese, so they can keep growing in their faith in God to become a good Catholic in their life.
Indeed, the Diocese of San Bernardino is rich in the many cultures from which each ethnic group can bring in the best they have to share. Even though each ethnic group speaks their own tongue to express their faith in prayer, we experienced the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the language of love bringing us to unity as One Body in Christ.