The Catholic Weekly's image of one of the Stations of the Cross, which was hand-carved in Vietnam
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A new Stations of the Cross and Our Lady of the Boat People installation at St Joseph's Conference Centre at Bringelly in NSW is a token of gratitude from the Vietnamese Catholic community, The Catholic Weekly reports.
It marks 35 years of resettlement of the Vietnamese refugees here, said Father Toan Nguyen, senior chaplain of the Vietnamese Catholic Pastoral Centre at Revesby.
The installation was blessed by Bishop Julian Porteous on October 17, hours before the canonisation of Mary MacKillop.
"The Stations of the Cross are built here as a token of gratitude to Australia by the generosity of all members of the Vietnamese Catholic Community for all pilgrims not only in Sydney but also Australia and all over the world who would like to make a spiritual journey with our Lord, from Jerusalem to Golgotha," Fr Toan said at the blessing.
"The fall of Saigon was in 1975 so it is 35 years of resettlement, and we feel that we should do something to show our gratitude to the Australian people, especially the Australian Church.
The Vietnamese Catholic community raised about $1 million to fund the project, which includes Stations of the Cross, a statue of Our Lady, and a small timber boat to represent refugees. All were hand-made in Vietnam.
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