Vietnam’s Catholic bishops have made the family the focus of the Church’s 2027 pastoral mission, calling on Catholic households to become missionary communities rooted in prayer, faith formation, and parish life.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam designated 2027 as a year focused on every Catholic family becoming a missionary community, part of a three-year pastoral program on evangelization from 2026 to 2028.
The theme follows the Church’s 2026 emphasis on every Christian as a missionary disciple and brings that responsibility into family life.
Describing the Christian family as a domestic Church, the bishops said Catholic households share in the Church’s mission of evangelization and are called to live it at home, in the parish and in the wider Church.
Married couples were urged to remain faithful to their marriage covenant, while parents were encouraged to pass on the faith to their children through prayer, formation and example.
Family members should also listen to one another, discern God’s will together and help each other grow in faith.
The bishops said Catholic families should witness to the value of marriage in their parish communities and accompany other households, particularly as marriage and family life face serious challenges.
Prayer is a central part of the 2027 pastoral program.
Families were encouraged to set aside time each day to pray together, read Scripture and recite the Rosary, while maintaining the tradition of prayer before and after meals.
The document said moments of family prayer and forms of popular piety can have a stronger evangelizing effect than catechetical teaching or doctrinal lessons.
Parents were also described as the first and irreplaceable proclaimers of the Gospel to their children. The bishops stressed that faith formation should not be left solely to catechists or religious education classes.
They encouraged parents to teach through prayer, moral formation and personal example, while using family anniversaries and other occasions to give thanks to God, strengthen relationships and pass on the faith.
Church organizations and family ministries were urged to expand accompaniment and formation, especially for young families, migrant families, divorced families and households drifting away from religious practice.
The bishops encouraged these groups to create opportunities for families to meet, pray, share experiences and support one another.
Priests, particularly parish pastors, were also asked to give greater priority to family ministry.
The pastoral letter called for stronger marriage preparation, support for newly married couples and visits to families facing difficulties. Parishes were also encouraged to identify mature Catholic families that could accompany other households.
The bishops said parishes with families firmly grounded in the faith can become stronger communities marked by communion, participation and commitment to evangelization.
The pastoral direction was issued in Thai Binh on Sept. 24, 2026, and signed by Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Nang, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, and Bishop Joseph Do Manh Hung, its secretary-general.
