Books

'Five Loaves and Two Fishes' by Archbishop F. X. Nguyen Van Thuan

Reviewed by Anthony Cappello

Contents - Jul 2001 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Archbishop Pell receives the pallium - Peter Westmore New Vatican guidelines call for sound, accurate liturgy translations - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World AD2000 makes impact on the Internet - Francis Young Thomas More Centre Winter Schools 2001 for Ballarat and Brisbane Education: National Catholic Education Conference: but who chose the guest speakers? - Michael Gilchrist Carnivale Christi: an inspiring display of Christian culture - Angela Smith Archbishop Carnley: controversial Primate - Dr Ian Spry QC Basic Ecclesial Communities - Archbishop Leonard Faulkner Report on Marins BECs workshop in Ballarat - Peter Finlayson The case for more Church History in Catholic schools - Michael Lynch First Tetum-language New Testament for East Timor Letters: Australia's Patroness? (letter) - Rev W.J. Robley Adm Letters: Ballarat Diocese (letter) - Peter Jenkins Letters: Ambiguities (letter) - Philip Robinson Letters: Mass media (letter) - Errol P. Duke Letters: New Testament books (letter) - Fr G.H. Duggan SM Letters: De facto relationships (letter) - Deirdre Lyra Letters: Church land (letter) - Charles Haber Books: Testimonies to the Glory of God: World Youth Day Pilgrimage AD2000 - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer) Books: 'Five Loaves and Two Fishes' by Archbishop F. X. Nguyen Van Thuan - Anthony Cappello (reviewer) Books: The Gift of the Rosary: How to make and How and Why to Pray, by Brian Peachey - Barry Morgan (reviewer) Music: From the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit: - John Miles (reviewer) Corpus Christi Seminary Inquiry Day Reflection: An Australian World War II hero - Ron Cowban

Five Loaves and Two Fishes by Archbishop F. X. Nguyen Van Thuan (Dunmore Press, 90pp, $5.00 plus postage and handling. Available from AD Books)

Archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan is a remarkable man who has witnessed to the Gospel in an extraordinary way. So much so that now in exile from his beloved Vietnam, Archbishop Thuan has been appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

When Thuan was made Archbishop he was arrested and imprisoned by the Communist Government in Vietnam. Of 13 years of imprisonment, Thuan spent nine in solitary confinement; but as we find in this book Five Loaves and Two Fishes, the "power of God cannot be confined and it is at its best when the odds are against it."

During his time in prison, Archbishop Thuan lived and proclaimed the power of the Gospel, befriended all his gaolers, taught them French and Latin, and talked them into obtaining for him a pencil and paper. At great risk to those jailers, he was supplied and the fruits of this act is this remarkable little book.

Five Loaves and Two Fishes follows the story where Jesus offers five loaves and two fish. In the words of the Archbishop, it is nothing before a crowd of thousands of people. But it was all that Jesus had - and it parallels the Archbishop's own experience in prison: "Like the boy in the Gospel passage É five loaves and two fish. It is nothing, but it is all I have. Jesus will do the rest."

And so this book takes us on a spiritual journey with Archbishop Thuan's experience as a guide, helping us to understand that God's grace gives us energy "to work and to go on, even in the most desperate moments." This was certainly the case in the life of Archbishop Thuan.

Anthony Cappello is research assistant for the Thomas More Centre.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 14 No 6 (July 2001), p. 16