Vietnamese ministry moves from Fort Smith to parish in Barling

Priest will celebrate three weekend Masses at new location

Published: August 22, 2009

By Maryanne Meyerriecks
Fort Smith Correspondent

Karen Schwarz

Father Peter Quang Le celebrates the first Vietnamese Mass at Sacred Heart of Mary in Barling Aug. 15. He has served at Christ the King Church in Fort Smith for the past 10 years.

Karen Schwarz

Father Peter Quang Le celebrates the first Vietnamese Mass at Sacred Heart of Mary in Barling Aug. 15. He has served at Christ the King Church in Fort Smith for the past 10 years.

BARLING -- Vietnamese ministry in the Fort Smith area is relocating to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Barling to allow for more room for its programs and services.

The change made by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, which officially occurred Aug. 15, means the return of Vietnamese parishioners to the parish.

Many Vietnamese who live in the Arkansas River Valley today came to Arkansas via Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history, following the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

Between April and December 1975, 50,289 Vietnamese refugees were processed through Fort Chaffee, not far from Sacred Heart of Mary Church. While many families were sponsored by churches and organizations from all over the United States, some settled in the River Valley area.

"In 1975 ... the parish apparently sponsored a number of the Catholic refugees who later settled in Barling and enrolled their children in our school," Sacred Heart of Mary's 100th anniversary journal said. "With more than half of their students then suddenly being of Vietnamese descent, the sisters began a special ministry. The focus for these new students included Sister Camilla's work with the preschoolers, which involved teaching them the basics -- the ABCs, counting and some English.

"For the sisters' work with the Vietnamese children in school and for other parishioners' work with the adult refugees, the South Vietnamese, in late March or early April 1987, gave thanks for our parish's kindness."

In 1976, the Vietnamese community left Sacred Heart of Mary to join Christ the King Church in Fort Smith. A Vietnamese priest, Father Do Duy "Dominic" Nho, came from North Little Rock once or twice a month to say Mass in Vietnamese. In 1999, Father Peter Quang Le was assigned to be an associate pastor at Christ the King, working with the Vietnamese community.

"The Vietnamese Catholic congregation has 230 families in Fort Smith and surrounding areas," Father Le said. "We belong to five churches -- St. Michael, Immaculate Conception, St. Boniface, Sacred Heart of Mary and Christ the King. We have daily Mass and Sunday Mass with prayer groups for youth and adults, a Eucharistic Youth Association, a Dominican prayer group and a charismatic renewal group."

As the Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese Catholic population continued to grow at Christ the King, parishioners began to experience space and scheduling problems. The Vietnamese community began to raise money by providing food service each year at the Marian Days Festival in Carthage, Mo., so they could buy or build a building for their programs and ministries.

When the community brought its proposals to the diocese's priest council, called the Presbyteral Council, April 23, the council came up with a solution that would give the Vietnamese community the parish hall and church space without going to the extraordinary expense of establishing its own separate parish.

Sacred Heart of Mary Church, which initially welcomed and educated the first refugee families in 1975, had adequate facilities that were currently underused. The Parish Center, which had once housed a small Catholic school, has class and meeting rooms, a large hall, professional kitchen, playgrounds and fields. The "rock house," situated between the church and rectory, was renovated by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith campus ministry in 2001 and used until they moved to Immaculate Conception.

With only two weekend Masses -- 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday -- Sacred Heart of Mary would allow the Vietnamese community to celebrate three weekend Masses -- 8 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. and noon Sunday -- and enjoy lunch together after Mass.

The Presbyteral Council proposed that Father Le be reassigned to Sacred Heart of Mary Church and that the Vietnamese community move its Masses and programs there -- a move that would double the parish size to 400 families.

On April 24, Bishop Taylor met with Father Le, Father Henry Mischkowiuski, Sacred Heart of Mary pastor, and the leaders of the Vietnamese community at Sacred Heart of Mary Church. They toured the buildings and spoke with Father Mischkowiuski.

Nhat Le, one of the leaders of the Vietnamese community, said, "Father Henry is so good. I love him to death. I met him four or five times. He prays all the time."

Father Mischkowiuski, who was born in Poland, grew up in India, was educated in London and ministered in Calcutta, speaks several languages and has started learning Vietnamese with the help of a few current parishioners so that he will be able to say Mass in Vietnamese when Father Le is out of town.

Father Le celebrated the first Vietnamese Mass at Sacred Heart of Mary Church Saturday, Aug. 15. Weekday Masses will be celebrated in Vietnamese Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:05 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 23, the parish will get together to host a welcoming reception for the Vietnamese community.