By Karen Mahoney, Special to your Catholic Herald

As the director of liturgy and music at St. Michael and St. Rose Parishes, Milwaukee, Barbara Tracey has an opportunity to work with a diverse group of Catholics; among them are Latinos, African Americans, and Anglos, with 45 percent of its members from Southeast Asia. For 13 years, Tracey has worked with and learned from the Lao- and Hmong-speaking parishioners, including their culture, language and spirituality.

When presented with the opportunity in January to visit Vietnam and Laos, she did.

The trip followed a chance meeting of Franciscan Br. Rufino Zaragoza at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians national conference in July 2005, when St. Michael Parish hosted a concert of Asian Catholic music. He works with Oregon Catholic Press, a Catholic music publishing company, in developing materials for Vietnamese Catholics in the U.S. and Vietnam.

The purpose of the 22-day trip was to join local Vietnamese worshippers and experience Vietnamese lifestyle, liturgy and devotions. For Tracey, visiting Vietnam would give the opportunity to witness the growth of the faith in a much different way.

“Rufino wanted me to go on the trip to Vietnam because the focus was on inculturation, how the Vietnamese have incorporated cultural and traditional practices into Catholicism, from the architecture of their churches to their musical traditions,” Tracey said. “I was very interested, because we have been moving in that direction with our parishioners to make our worship more accessible and meaningful.”

Because so many of Tracey’s friends are from Laos, she teased Br. Rufino that she would only agree to the trip if they were able to visit the homeland of so many of her parish members.

“Rufino said he’d always wanted to go to Laos, so we arranged additional time to visit and contact relatives and friends of St. Michael parishioners,” she said. “In all, we visited Saigon, Hue and Hanoi in Vietnam, Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos.”

Tracey toured with a variety of individuals from the United States of varying ages and occupations.

“One of the highlights were the young Catholic adults that we met both in Vietnam and Laos who are so involved and passionate about their faith,” she said. “We spent time with many seminarians and postulants; they cannot accommodate all the people who want to join religious life. The government has set limits on how many can be ordained and on the activities that religious orders can pursue.”

In addition to limiting ordinations, religious life and teaching — religious cannot teach beyond the kindergarten level, governmental bodies in each country also restrict the church by confiscating property and limiting faith-filled activities.

“Even to attend something like World Youth Day, they have to lie about where they are going and why,” Tracey said. “I was honored to meet with Bishop Khamse Vithavong in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and when I told him of our youth gatherings, he sighed, ‘America, what freedom!’ We take this for granted.”

The trip included visits to churches that incorporated cultural Vietnamese elements into Catholic settings, such as bell towers in the shape of pagodas, and a drum set in the tower rather than the traditional bell.

“The most beautiful place we visited in Vietnam was Halong Bay, where beautiful karst formations emerge out of the water. It was overcast the day we were there and it was eerie and wildly beautiful,” Tracey said. “In Laos, I will never forget sitting on the banks of the Mekong River in Luang Prabang, in the beautiful warmth of January, when it is dry and in the 80s, and the gentle friendliness I felt with each ‘SaiBai Dee’ (greeting) and bow I received.”

Tracey observed distinctive differences between the two countries.

“Vietnam is fast and go, go go, and Laos is much more laid back, and Buddhist,” she said. “Theirs is a very different spirituality, with their backgrounds in Buddhism and animism.”

As a result of the trip, Tracey said she has a better understanding and grasp of Southeast Asian culture than she did.

“I work a lot with our young people who have not yet had the chance to see the land of their parents. Having been there, I hope I can offer another perspective for them,” she said. “They are Catholic now, but their past informs their present. For their children, there is a whole different set of questions and challenges, as they move in the American world in school, and the Hmong or Lao world of their homes.”

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