Nuns from the Providence of Portieux religious order were praised for their sacrifices when serving disadvantaged people in remote areas at a Congress of Catholics from Can Tho City from November 11-12.

Providence of Portieux has so far sent out over 500 sisters to remote areas as far as the southern tip of Ca Mau. They have overcome numerous difficulties and hardships to bring God and support to people with limited access to education and healthcare.

The provincial nunnery of the Providence of Portieux, led by Mother Superior Marie Phillippe Dinh Thi Nhung, has, over the past five years, raised funds worth 3.6 billion VND in both cash and kind for the region’s poor.

Their charitable activities have come in many forms, from providing the elderly with rice to assisting disabled and orphaned children as well as funding scholarships and literature classes for poor students and building water wells in rural areas. For flood relief aid alone, they have managed to raise 520 million VND.

The sisters have also taken part in numerous patriotic movements launched by the local administration. Many of them have joined the provincial Committee of Catholic Solidarity and the provincial Fatherland Front.

As a result, the sisters at Providence of Portieux have been awarded three medals, seven certificates of merits and numerous other honours.

Mother Marie Phillippe Dinh Thi Nhung revealed that “before becoming nuns, we were all aware that we are citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam first and our blood is soaked in the traditions of patriotism and national unity”.

“We are therefore responsible to our native land so we contribute to building a prosperous, equal, democratic and civilised society,” she added.

The Providence of Porteux order was licensed to practise their religious beliefs by central Government on October 27./.