Emmanuel François-Sappey

This film offers us a juxtaposed journey of two priests: Father Van Ban, a Vietnamese priest from the parish of Thy Hu in the Hé region, who after nine years of training in Paris decides to return to Vietnam, and Bernard de Terves, a young deacon from the Foreign Missions of Paris who decides to leave for China after his ordination. Their intersecting paths allow us to address themes related to East-West intercultural dialogue, particularly that of transmitting the Gospel message.

Since the 18th century, the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) has been sending priests to Asia in the name of the Gospel. The MEP missionaries have contributed to an extraordinary human, cultural, and religious adventure that gave birth to the Churches of Asia. The MEP priests continue the work begun 350 years ago by the first missionaries: bearers of good news, pioneers, spiritual mentors, and social activists, they are writing the history of the universal Church in Asia.