Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace
Cardinal F.X Nguyen Van Thuan was born at Phu Cam in the diocese of Hue, Province of Thua Thien, Vietnam, on April l7, l928. He was the eldest of 8: 3 boys and 5 girls. His father, Mr Nguyen Van Am passed away on July 1, l993 in Sydney, Australia. His Mother, née Ngo Dinh Thi Hiep, daughter of the late Mr Ngo Dinh Kha, is now l00 years old and living in Sydney, Australia with her daughter Anne Ham Tieu.
Cardinal Thuan was born into a family with a long Catholic tradition, his relatives were among the martyrs since l698.
From early age Fr. Thuan was brought up in a Catholic environment with deep faith, owing much to his examplary holy mother Elizabeth. Every evening she told her son stories from the Bible and those of the martyrs of Vietnam, especially of his ancestors, introduced him to the example of St Theresa of the Infant Jesus, taught him to love and forgive, and she also taught him to cherish his homeland of Vietnam.
Thuan entered the Minor Seminary in early teen, and followed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary Kim Long at Hue. He was ordained priest on June ll, l953. In addition to his parish work at the Francis Xavier Parish, he also was chaplain to the Hue Prison and to the Pellerin (Binh Minh) school of the De La Salle Brothers, where he himself had been educated.
Later he was sent to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, the Propaganda Fide in Rome from l956-59. He was awarded Doctor of Canon Law with High Distinction ‘maxima cum lauda’ for his thesis on ‘Military Chaplaincy in the World’. While studying in Rome Fr Thuan accompanied his uncle Bishop Peter Mary Ngo Dinh Thuc to the audience with His Holiness Pope Pius XII.
Upon his return to Vietnam, he was Professor and from later 1962 Director of the Minor Seminary Hoan Thien, and at the same time Vicar General of the Diocese of Hue from l964-l967.
On April l3, l967 Pope Paul VI named him Bishop, the first Vietnamese Bishop of Nha Trang, replacing Bishop Raymond Paul Piquet, M.E.P. (Bishop of Nha Trang from l957-l967).
He was consecrated Bishop on June 24, l967, the solemnity of St John the Baptist, at Hue by H.E. Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He took as his motto: Joy and Hope (Gaudium et Spes).
His installation took place on July 10, l967. During his eight years in Nha Trang he spared no effort in the development of the diocese before the advent of difficult times. He focussed on training the grassroot cadres, increasing the number of seminarians from 42 to 147, and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four Seminaries, organized Inservice Courses for priests of 6 dioceses in Central Viet Nam. He also organized other formation courses, such as: development and training of Youth associations, the laity, parish associations and parish councils with training courses for the Justice and Peace Movement, Cursillos and Focolare, and founded the Community of Hope and the Lavang Community.
Bishop Thuan wrote six circular letters for the formation of his diocese:
Awake and Pray (1968)
2. Strong in Faith, Advance with Serenity (1969)
3. Justice and Peace (l970)
4. The Mission of Christ is also our Mission
5. Remembering 300 years (l971)
6. Holy Years of Renewal and Reconciliation (1971).
Cardinal Thuan held various positions in the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference: He was Chairman of the Justice and Peace Committee, Social Communication Committee and the Development of Vietnam Committee in Charge of Corev to assist in resttlement of refugees from the war areas. He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Radio Station ‘Radio Veritas’ Asia, Manila. He frequently attended the Asian Bishops Conference of Asia (F.A.B.C.). He was named Advisor of the Pontifical Council of the Laity from l971-l975. It was during these meetings that he had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II, then Archbishop of Cracow, and to learn from him of pastoral experiences during the most difficult period in Poland under the communist regime. He was also appointed Advisor, then member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, and member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.
On April 23, l975 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop Coadjutor with rights of succession to the Archbishop of Saigon, and at the same time named him titular Archbishop of Vadesi. However the Communist regime did not approve this nomination and forced him to return to Nha Trang.
On the solemnity of Assumption, l5.8.75 he was detained and escorted to Nha Trang where he was held in house arrest at Cay Vong, but was later taken to North Viet Nam where he was imprisoned for more than 13 years, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement at Vinh Quang (Vinh Phu) prison, then in the prison run by the Hanoi Police. Later, he was again held under house arrest at Giang-Xa. During his years of imprisonment he wrote ‘The Road of Hope’, the Spiritual Testimony (Will) to all the Catholic Vietnamese in Viet Nam and abroad.
On November 21, l988, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, he was released from detention and was ordered to live at the Archbishop House in Hanoi, without permission to perform any pastoral work. In March l999 he was allowed to visit his aged parents in Sydney, Australia, and travel to Rome to meet the Holy Father and return to Hanoi.
In l99l he was allowed to travel to Rome but was not allowed to return Ever since that time he lived in exile, though his heart was always with the Church in Viet Nam and his homeland. He spared no efforts to assist social services in Viet Nam, for example leprosariums, Charitable organizations, research programs to promote the culture of Vietnam and of the Catholic Church in Viet Nam, reconstruction of churches, the training of seminarians as conditions allowed. In spite of the persecutions imposed on the Church and on himself personally, he always lived and preached forgiveness and reconciliation.
On November ll, l994 the Holy Father named him Vice President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, and subsequently President of the same on June 24, l998 replacing Cardinal Y. R. Etchegaray, who had retired. He remains in this position until today.
Since his release from prison, he had undergone 7 operations, 3 of which he suffered infections and was critically ill. The seccond last operation was on April l7, 2001 at the Saint Elisabeth’s Medical Center”, Boston, USA, and the last operation was on May 8,2002 at the Centre of Research for Tumors in Milan, Italy.
His condition worsened at the beginning of June 2002 and received treatment at Agostino Gemelli Hospital, a teaching hospital attached to the Catholic Sacred Heart University in Rome. He was later transferred to Pio XI hospital for further treatment.
In his life outside Vietnam was often invited to preach and lecture in many countries and to various audiences, for example at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris during Lent, and at various universities in the world:in Mexico, in May l998 he preached to more than 50,000 young people. On May ll, l996 he received an Honorary Doctorate at the Jesuit University in New Orleans, U.S.A. He also received other honorary titles and prizes as: 9 June l999 - Roma: “Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite”, Embassy of France to the Holy See; 12 December 2000 - Rome (Campidoglio), Italy, Prize “Together for Peace Foundation”; 20 October 2001 -Turin, Italy, Prize for Peace (SERMIG - Associazione Missionaria di giovani); 9 December 2001 - Pistoia, Italy: Prize of Peace 2001, Center of Studies G. Donati.
The Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples also entrusted him with the responsibility of visiting and overseeing the Seminaries in a number of countries in Africa.
During Lent 2000 he received a special invitation from Pope John Paul II to preach the Lenten Retreat to the Curia, at the beginning of the third millenium. When the Holy Father received him in private audience after the retreat, giving him a chalice, Cardinal Thuan said: “24 years ago I said Mass with 3 drops of wine and I drop of water in the palm of my hand, I never would have thought that today the Holy Father would give me a gilt chalice. Our Lord is great indeed and so is his love”. In February 2l, 2001 he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who named him Cardinal of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This church is under the pastoral care of the Carmelite Fathers.
He is died on September 16, 2002 in Rome.
Rome, 16 September 2002.
Coordinating Office of the Apostolate for the Vietnamese in the DiasporaCardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace
Cardinal F.X Nguyen Van Thuan was born at Phu Cam in the diocese of Hue, Province of Thua Thien, Vietnam, on April l7, l928. He was the eldest of 8: 3 boys and 5 girls. His father, Mr Nguyen Van Am passed away on July 1, l993 in Sydney, Australia. His Mother, née Ngo Dinh Thi Hiep, daughter of the late Mr Ngo Dinh Kha, is now l00 years old and living in Sydney, Australia with her daughter Anne Ham Tieu.
Cardinal Thuan was born into a family with a long Catholic tradition, his relatives were among the martyrs since l698.
From early age Fr. Thuan was brought up in a Catholic environment with deep faith, owing much to his examplary holy mother Elizabeth. Every evening she told her son stories from the Bible and those of the martyrs of Vietnam, especially of his ancestors, introduced him to the example of St Theresa of the Infant Jesus, taught him to love and forgive, and she also taught him to cherish his homeland of Vietnam.
Thuan entered the Minor Seminary in early teen, and followed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary Kim Long at Hue. He was ordained priest on June ll, l953. In addition to his parish work at the Francis Xavier Parish, he also was chaplain to the Hue Prison and to the Pellerin (Binh Minh) school of the De La Salle Brothers, where he himself had been educated.
Later he was sent to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, the Propaganda Fide in Rome from l956-59. He was awarded Doctor of Canon Law with High Distinction ‘maxima cum lauda’ for his thesis on ‘Military Chaplaincy in the World’. While studying in Rome Fr Thuan accompanied his uncle Bishop Peter Mary Ngo Dinh Thuc to the audience with His Holiness Pope Pius XII.
Upon his return to Vietnam, he was Professor and from later 1962 Director of the Minor Seminary Hoan Thien, and at the same time Vicar General of the Diocese of Hue from l964-l967.
On April l3, l967 Pope Paul VI named him Bishop, the first Vietnamese Bishop of Nha Trang, replacing Bishop Raymond Paul Piquet, M.E.P. (Bishop of Nha Trang from l957-l967).
He was consecrated Bishop on June 24, l967, the solemnity of St John the Baptist, at Hue by H.E. Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He took as his motto: Joy and Hope (Gaudium et Spes).
His installation took place on July 10, l967. During his eight years in Nha Trang he spared no effort in the development of the diocese before the advent of difficult times. He focussed on training the grassroot cadres, increasing the number of seminarians from 42 to 147, and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four Seminaries, organized Inservice Courses for priests of 6 dioceses in Central Viet Nam. He also organized other formation courses, such as: development and training of Youth associations, the laity, parish associations and parish councils with training courses for the Justice and Peace Movement, Cursillos and Focolare, and founded the Community of Hope and the Lavang Community.
Bishop Thuan wrote six circular letters for the formation of his diocese:
Awake and Pray (1968)
2. Strong in Faith, Advance with Serenity (1969)
3. Justice and Peace (l970)
4. The Mission of Christ is also our Mission
5. Remembering 300 years (l971)
6. Holy Years of Renewal and Reconciliation (1971).
Cardinal Thuan held various positions in the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference: He was Chairman of the Justice and Peace Committee, Social Communication Committee and the Development of Vietnam Committee in Charge of Corev to assist in resttlement of refugees from the war areas. He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Radio Station ‘Radio Veritas’ Asia, Manila. He frequently attended the Asian Bishops Conference of Asia (F.A.B.C.). He was named Advisor of the Pontifical Council of the Laity from l971-l975. It was during these meetings that he had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II, then Archbishop of Cracow, and to learn from him of pastoral experiences during the most difficult period in Poland under the communist regime. He was also appointed Advisor, then member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, and member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.
On April 23, l975 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop Coadjutor with rights of succession to the Archbishop of Saigon, and at the same time named him titular Archbishop of Vadesi. However the Communist regime did not approve this nomination and forced him to return to Nha Trang.
On the solemnity of Assumption, l5.8.75 he was detained and escorted to Nha Trang where he was held in house arrest at Cay Vong, but was later taken to North Viet Nam where he was imprisoned for more than 13 years, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement at Vinh Quang (Vinh Phu) prison, then in the prison run by the Hanoi Police. Later, he was again held under house arrest at Giang-Xa. During his years of imprisonment he wrote ‘The Road of Hope’, the Spiritual Testimony (Will) to all the Catholic Vietnamese in Viet Nam and abroad.
On November 21, l988, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, he was released from detention and was ordered to live at the Archbishop House in Hanoi, without permission to perform any pastoral work. In March l999 he was allowed to visit his aged parents in Sydney, Australia, and travel to Rome to meet the Holy Father and return to Hanoi.
In l99l he was allowed to travel to Rome but was not allowed to return Ever since that time he lived in exile, though his heart was always with the Church in Viet Nam and his homeland. He spared no efforts to assist social services in Viet Nam, for example leprosariums, Charitable organizations, research programs to promote the culture of Vietnam and of the Catholic Church in Viet Nam, reconstruction of churches, the training of seminarians as conditions allowed. In spite of the persecutions imposed on the Church and on himself personally, he always lived and preached forgiveness and reconciliation.
On November ll, l994 the Holy Father named him Vice President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, and subsequently President of the same on June 24, l998 replacing Cardinal Y. R. Etchegaray, who had retired. He remains in this position until today.
Since his release from prison, he had undergone 7 operations, 3 of which he suffered infections and was critically ill. The seccond last operation was on April l7, 2001 at the Saint Elisabeth’s Medical Center”, Boston, USA, and the last operation was on May 8,2002 at the Centre of Research for Tumors in Milan, Italy.
His condition worsened at the beginning of June 2002 and received treatment at Agostino Gemelli Hospital, a teaching hospital attached to the Catholic Sacred Heart University in Rome. He was later transferred to Pio XI hospital for further treatment.
In his life outside Vietnam was often invited to preach and lecture in many countries and to various audiences, for example at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris during Lent, and at various universities in the world:in Mexico, in May l998 he preached to more than 50,000 young people. On May ll, l996 he received an Honorary Doctorate at the Jesuit University in New Orleans, U.S.A. He also received other honorary titles and prizes as: 9 June l999 - Roma: “Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite”, Embassy of France to the Holy See; 12 December 2000 - Rome (Campidoglio), Italy, Prize “Together for Peace Foundation”; 20 October 2001 -Turin, Italy, Prize for Peace (SERMIG - Associazione Missionaria di giovani); 9 December 2001 - Pistoia, Italy: Prize of Peace 2001, Center of Studies G. Donati.
The Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples also entrusted him with the responsibility of visiting and overseeing the Seminaries in a number of countries in Africa.
During Lent 2000 he received a special invitation from Pope John Paul II to preach the Lenten Retreat to the Curia, at the beginning of the third millenium. When the Holy Father received him in private audience after the retreat, giving him a chalice, Cardinal Thuan said: “24 years ago I said Mass with 3 drops of wine and I drop of water in the palm of my hand, I never would have thought that today the Holy Father would give me a gilt chalice. Our Lord is great indeed and so is his love”. In February 2l, 2001 he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who named him Cardinal of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This church is under the pastoral care of the Carmelite Fathers.
He is died on September 16, 2002 in Rome.
Rome, 16 September 2002.
President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace
Cardinal F.X Nguyen Van Thuan was born at Phu Cam in the diocese of Hue, Province of Thua Thien, Vietnam, on April l7, l928. He was the eldest of 8: 3 boys and 5 girls. His father, Mr Nguyen Van Am passed away on July 1, l993 in Sydney, Australia. His Mother, née Ngo Dinh Thi Hiep, daughter of the late Mr Ngo Dinh Kha, is now l00 years old and living in Sydney, Australia with her daughter Anne Ham Tieu.
Cardinal Thuan was born into a family with a long Catholic tradition, his relatives were among the martyrs since l698.
From early age Fr. Thuan was brought up in a Catholic environment with deep faith, owing much to his examplary holy mother Elizabeth. Every evening she told her son stories from the Bible and those of the martyrs of Vietnam, especially of his ancestors, introduced him to the example of St Theresa of the Infant Jesus, taught him to love and forgive, and she also taught him to cherish his homeland of Vietnam.
Thuan entered the Minor Seminary in early teen, and followed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary Kim Long at Hue. He was ordained priest on June ll, l953. In addition to his parish work at the Francis Xavier Parish, he also was chaplain to the Hue Prison and to the Pellerin (Binh Minh) school of the De La Salle Brothers, where he himself had been educated.
Later he was sent to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, the Propaganda Fide in Rome from l956-59. He was awarded Doctor of Canon Law with High Distinction ‘maxima cum lauda’ for his thesis on ‘Military Chaplaincy in the World’. While studying in Rome Fr Thuan accompanied his uncle Bishop Peter Mary Ngo Dinh Thuc to the audience with His Holiness Pope Pius XII.
Upon his return to Vietnam, he was Professor and from later 1962 Director of the Minor Seminary Hoan Thien, and at the same time Vicar General of the Diocese of Hue from l964-l967.
On April l3, l967 Pope Paul VI named him Bishop, the first Vietnamese Bishop of Nha Trang, replacing Bishop Raymond Paul Piquet, M.E.P. (Bishop of Nha Trang from l957-l967).
He was consecrated Bishop on June 24, l967, the solemnity of St John the Baptist, at Hue by H.E. Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He took as his motto: Joy and Hope (Gaudium et Spes).
His installation took place on July 10, l967. During his eight years in Nha Trang he spared no effort in the development of the diocese before the advent of difficult times. He focussed on training the grassroot cadres, increasing the number of seminarians from 42 to 147, and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four Seminaries, organized Inservice Courses for priests of 6 dioceses in Central Viet Nam. He also organized other formation courses, such as: development and training of Youth associations, the laity, parish associations and parish councils with training courses for the Justice and Peace Movement, Cursillos and Focolare, and founded the Community of Hope and the Lavang Community.
Bishop Thuan wrote six circular letters for the formation of his diocese:
Awake and Pray (1968)
2. Strong in Faith, Advance with Serenity (1969)
3. Justice and Peace (l970)
4. The Mission of Christ is also our Mission
5. Remembering 300 years (l971)
6. Holy Years of Renewal and Reconciliation (1971).
Cardinal Thuan held various positions in the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference: He was Chairman of the Justice and Peace Committee, Social Communication Committee and the Development of Vietnam Committee in Charge of Corev to assist in resttlement of refugees from the war areas. He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Radio Station ‘Radio Veritas’ Asia, Manila. He frequently attended the Asian Bishops Conference of Asia (F.A.B.C.). He was named Advisor of the Pontifical Council of the Laity from l971-l975. It was during these meetings that he had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II, then Archbishop of Cracow, and to learn from him of pastoral experiences during the most difficult period in Poland under the communist regime. He was also appointed Advisor, then member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, and member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.
On April 23, l975 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop Coadjutor with rights of succession to the Archbishop of Saigon, and at the same time named him titular Archbishop of Vadesi. However the Communist regime did not approve this nomination and forced him to return to Nha Trang.
On the solemnity of Assumption, l5.8.75 he was detained and escorted to Nha Trang where he was held in house arrest at Cay Vong, but was later taken to North Viet Nam where he was imprisoned for more than 13 years, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement at Vinh Quang (Vinh Phu) prison, then in the prison run by the Hanoi Police. Later, he was again held under house arrest at Giang-Xa. During his years of imprisonment he wrote ‘The Road of Hope’, the Spiritual Testimony (Will) to all the Catholic Vietnamese in Viet Nam and abroad.
On November 21, l988, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, he was released from detention and was ordered to live at the Archbishop House in Hanoi, without permission to perform any pastoral work. In March l999 he was allowed to visit his aged parents in Sydney, Australia, and travel to Rome to meet the Holy Father and return to Hanoi.
In l99l he was allowed to travel to Rome but was not allowed to return Ever since that time he lived in exile, though his heart was always with the Church in Viet Nam and his homeland. He spared no efforts to assist social services in Viet Nam, for example leprosariums, Charitable organizations, research programs to promote the culture of Vietnam and of the Catholic Church in Viet Nam, reconstruction of churches, the training of seminarians as conditions allowed. In spite of the persecutions imposed on the Church and on himself personally, he always lived and preached forgiveness and reconciliation.
On November ll, l994 the Holy Father named him Vice President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, and subsequently President of the same on June 24, l998 replacing Cardinal Y. R. Etchegaray, who had retired. He remains in this position until today.
Since his release from prison, he had undergone 7 operations, 3 of which he suffered infections and was critically ill. The seccond last operation was on April l7, 2001 at the Saint Elisabeth’s Medical Center”, Boston, USA, and the last operation was on May 8,2002 at the Centre of Research for Tumors in Milan, Italy.
His condition worsened at the beginning of June 2002 and received treatment at Agostino Gemelli Hospital, a teaching hospital attached to the Catholic Sacred Heart University in Rome. He was later transferred to Pio XI hospital for further treatment.
In his life outside Vietnam was often invited to preach and lecture in many countries and to various audiences, for example at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris during Lent, and at various universities in the world:in Mexico, in May l998 he preached to more than 50,000 young people. On May ll, l996 he received an Honorary Doctorate at the Jesuit University in New Orleans, U.S.A. He also received other honorary titles and prizes as: 9 June l999 - Roma: “Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite”, Embassy of France to the Holy See; 12 December 2000 - Rome (Campidoglio), Italy, Prize “Together for Peace Foundation”; 20 October 2001 -Turin, Italy, Prize for Peace (SERMIG - Associazione Missionaria di giovani); 9 December 2001 - Pistoia, Italy: Prize of Peace 2001, Center of Studies G. Donati.
The Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples also entrusted him with the responsibility of visiting and overseeing the Seminaries in a number of countries in Africa.
During Lent 2000 he received a special invitation from Pope John Paul II to preach the Lenten Retreat to the Curia, at the beginning of the third millenium. When the Holy Father received him in private audience after the retreat, giving him a chalice, Cardinal Thuan said: “24 years ago I said Mass with 3 drops of wine and I drop of water in the palm of my hand, I never would have thought that today the Holy Father would give me a gilt chalice. Our Lord is great indeed and so is his love”. In February 2l, 2001 he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who named him Cardinal of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This church is under the pastoral care of the Carmelite Fathers.
He is died on September 16, 2002 in Rome.
Rome, 16 September 2002.
Coordinating Office of the Apostolate for the Vietnamese in the DiasporaCardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace
Cardinal F.X Nguyen Van Thuan was born at Phu Cam in the diocese of Hue, Province of Thua Thien, Vietnam, on April l7, l928. He was the eldest of 8: 3 boys and 5 girls. His father, Mr Nguyen Van Am passed away on July 1, l993 in Sydney, Australia. His Mother, née Ngo Dinh Thi Hiep, daughter of the late Mr Ngo Dinh Kha, is now l00 years old and living in Sydney, Australia with her daughter Anne Ham Tieu.
Cardinal Thuan was born into a family with a long Catholic tradition, his relatives were among the martyrs since l698.
From early age Fr. Thuan was brought up in a Catholic environment with deep faith, owing much to his examplary holy mother Elizabeth. Every evening she told her son stories from the Bible and those of the martyrs of Vietnam, especially of his ancestors, introduced him to the example of St Theresa of the Infant Jesus, taught him to love and forgive, and she also taught him to cherish his homeland of Vietnam.
Thuan entered the Minor Seminary in early teen, and followed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary Kim Long at Hue. He was ordained priest on June ll, l953. In addition to his parish work at the Francis Xavier Parish, he also was chaplain to the Hue Prison and to the Pellerin (Binh Minh) school of the De La Salle Brothers, where he himself had been educated.
Later he was sent to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, the Propaganda Fide in Rome from l956-59. He was awarded Doctor of Canon Law with High Distinction ‘maxima cum lauda’ for his thesis on ‘Military Chaplaincy in the World’. While studying in Rome Fr Thuan accompanied his uncle Bishop Peter Mary Ngo Dinh Thuc to the audience with His Holiness Pope Pius XII.
Upon his return to Vietnam, he was Professor and from later 1962 Director of the Minor Seminary Hoan Thien, and at the same time Vicar General of the Diocese of Hue from l964-l967.
On April l3, l967 Pope Paul VI named him Bishop, the first Vietnamese Bishop of Nha Trang, replacing Bishop Raymond Paul Piquet, M.E.P. (Bishop of Nha Trang from l957-l967).
He was consecrated Bishop on June 24, l967, the solemnity of St John the Baptist, at Hue by H.E. Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He took as his motto: Joy and Hope (Gaudium et Spes).
His installation took place on July 10, l967. During his eight years in Nha Trang he spared no effort in the development of the diocese before the advent of difficult times. He focussed on training the grassroot cadres, increasing the number of seminarians from 42 to 147, and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four Seminaries, organized Inservice Courses for priests of 6 dioceses in Central Viet Nam. He also organized other formation courses, such as: development and training of Youth associations, the laity, parish associations and parish councils with training courses for the Justice and Peace Movement, Cursillos and Focolare, and founded the Community of Hope and the Lavang Community.
Bishop Thuan wrote six circular letters for the formation of his diocese:
Awake and Pray (1968)
2. Strong in Faith, Advance with Serenity (1969)
3. Justice and Peace (l970)
4. The Mission of Christ is also our Mission
5. Remembering 300 years (l971)
6. Holy Years of Renewal and Reconciliation (1971).
Cardinal Thuan held various positions in the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference: He was Chairman of the Justice and Peace Committee, Social Communication Committee and the Development of Vietnam Committee in Charge of Corev to assist in resttlement of refugees from the war areas. He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Radio Station ‘Radio Veritas’ Asia, Manila. He frequently attended the Asian Bishops Conference of Asia (F.A.B.C.). He was named Advisor of the Pontifical Council of the Laity from l971-l975. It was during these meetings that he had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II, then Archbishop of Cracow, and to learn from him of pastoral experiences during the most difficult period in Poland under the communist regime. He was also appointed Advisor, then member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, and member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.
On April 23, l975 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop Coadjutor with rights of succession to the Archbishop of Saigon, and at the same time named him titular Archbishop of Vadesi. However the Communist regime did not approve this nomination and forced him to return to Nha Trang.
On the solemnity of Assumption, l5.8.75 he was detained and escorted to Nha Trang where he was held in house arrest at Cay Vong, but was later taken to North Viet Nam where he was imprisoned for more than 13 years, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement at Vinh Quang (Vinh Phu) prison, then in the prison run by the Hanoi Police. Later, he was again held under house arrest at Giang-Xa. During his years of imprisonment he wrote ‘The Road of Hope’, the Spiritual Testimony (Will) to all the Catholic Vietnamese in Viet Nam and abroad.
On November 21, l988, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, he was released from detention and was ordered to live at the Archbishop House in Hanoi, without permission to perform any pastoral work. In March l999 he was allowed to visit his aged parents in Sydney, Australia, and travel to Rome to meet the Holy Father and return to Hanoi.
In l99l he was allowed to travel to Rome but was not allowed to return Ever since that time he lived in exile, though his heart was always with the Church in Viet Nam and his homeland. He spared no efforts to assist social services in Viet Nam, for example leprosariums, Charitable organizations, research programs to promote the culture of Vietnam and of the Catholic Church in Viet Nam, reconstruction of churches, the training of seminarians as conditions allowed. In spite of the persecutions imposed on the Church and on himself personally, he always lived and preached forgiveness and reconciliation.
On November ll, l994 the Holy Father named him Vice President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, and subsequently President of the same on June 24, l998 replacing Cardinal Y. R. Etchegaray, who had retired. He remains in this position until today.
Since his release from prison, he had undergone 7 operations, 3 of which he suffered infections and was critically ill. The seccond last operation was on April l7, 2001 at the Saint Elisabeth’s Medical Center”, Boston, USA, and the last operation was on May 8,2002 at the Centre of Research for Tumors in Milan, Italy.
His condition worsened at the beginning of June 2002 and received treatment at Agostino Gemelli Hospital, a teaching hospital attached to the Catholic Sacred Heart University in Rome. He was later transferred to Pio XI hospital for further treatment.
In his life outside Vietnam was often invited to preach and lecture in many countries and to various audiences, for example at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris during Lent, and at various universities in the world:in Mexico, in May l998 he preached to more than 50,000 young people. On May ll, l996 he received an Honorary Doctorate at the Jesuit University in New Orleans, U.S.A. He also received other honorary titles and prizes as: 9 June l999 - Roma: “Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite”, Embassy of France to the Holy See; 12 December 2000 - Rome (Campidoglio), Italy, Prize “Together for Peace Foundation”; 20 October 2001 -Turin, Italy, Prize for Peace (SERMIG - Associazione Missionaria di giovani); 9 December 2001 - Pistoia, Italy: Prize of Peace 2001, Center of Studies G. Donati.
The Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples also entrusted him with the responsibility of visiting and overseeing the Seminaries in a number of countries in Africa.
During Lent 2000 he received a special invitation from Pope John Paul II to preach the Lenten Retreat to the Curia, at the beginning of the third millenium. When the Holy Father received him in private audience after the retreat, giving him a chalice, Cardinal Thuan said: “24 years ago I said Mass with 3 drops of wine and I drop of water in the palm of my hand, I never would have thought that today the Holy Father would give me a gilt chalice. Our Lord is great indeed and so is his love”. In February 2l, 2001 he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who named him Cardinal of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This church is under the pastoral care of the Carmelite Fathers.
He is died on September 16, 2002 in Rome.
Rome, 16 September 2002.