CONGREGATION OF THE MOTHER CO-REDEMPTRIX

Also known as Dòng Ð[symbol omitted]ng Công, abbreviated CMC. Dòng Ð[symbol omitted]ng Công is an indigenous Vietnamese congregation of religious priests and brothers with communities in Vietnam and the U.S. Founded by a Vietnamese priest, Ðaminh (Dominic) M. Tr[symbol omitted]n Ðình Thủ in 1953 in Bùi Chu (in northern Vietnam), the fledging community fled southward almost immediately, joining the mass exodus to South Vietnam in the wake of the French defeat at Ðiện Biên Phủ, followed by the signing of the 1954 Geneva Accord which divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. In the south, the congregation operated schools and seminaries, and carried out pastoral work in parishes. A second exodus occurred in the aftermath of the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. About 170 priests and brothers of the Dòng Ð[symbol omitted]ng Công fled South Vietnam by boat. Picked up by American naval vessels, they were resettled in the U.S. Under the auspices of the then Bishop Bernard F. Law, Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the Dòng Ð[symbol omitted]ng Công was given a new lease on life. Headquartered in Carthage, Missouri, the American

branch of the Dòng Ð[symbol omitted]ng Công serves Vietnamese parishes and communities throughout the U.S. Their annual Marian Days pilgrimage celebration every August, mirrored after the traditional Marian Days pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of la vang in central Vietnam, draws an estimated 50,000 Vietnamese Catholics to Carthage. The congregation numbers around 200 priests and brothers in the U.S., and about 400 in Vietnam.

[v. t. pham]