The Vietnamese migrants living and working in New Caledonia will have a comforting presence amongst them for Christmas, with Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD arriving to help them celebrate.

With only few Vietnamese priests in the Pacific countries, Fr Truc, who is the SVD AUS Province Mission Secretary and was born and raised in Vietnam, pays regular visits to New Caledonia to help meet the faith needs of the migrant people.

Fr Truc says the first generation of Vietnamese migrants went to New Caledonia as labourers for the French and they didn’t speak the language.

“But they are very, very devoted to their faith,” he says.

In the lead-up to Christmas, Fr Truc will give a retreat for the Vietnamese community at Christ the King Parish, Noumea, with times for spiritual reflection and shared prayer.

He will also offer them Anointing of the Sick and the sacrament of Reconciliation in Vietnamese. On top of that, Fr Truc, who spent time as a missionary in Thailand and is currently working in Australia, will be available for Reconciliation in the Thai, Lao and English languages for those Catholic migrants who wish to come.

Fr Truc says he sees his ministry with the Vietnamese migrant community of New Caledonia as an important part of the Divine Word Missionaries’ commitment to work with migrants and refugees.

“It’s good that we are now reaching out to the Pacific and helping migrants,” he says. “It is the Church in need.”

While there are very few Masses in Vietnamese available in New Caledonia, it is the big feasts of Christmas and Easter where the community really longs for the presence of a Vietnamese-speaking priest.

“So I try to be there for those times,” Fr Truc says. “The people have a need and I am very glad to be able to be there with them.”