Venerable Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận
A Vietnamese bishop who spent thirteen years in detention, then served the Roman Curia
- Rank
- Venerable
- Kind
- Bishop
- Life
- 1928 – 2002
- Era
- 21st century
- Feast
- 16 September
- Countries
- Vietnam, Italy
Life story
Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận was born on 17 April 1928 in Huế into a long-established Catholic family. His mother was a sister of Ngô Đình Diệm, who later became president of South Vietnam. He entered the seminary, was ordained a priest in 1953, studied canon law in Rome, and on returning taught at the major seminary in Huế, where he later served as rector.
In 1967 he was appointed Bishop of Nha Trang. On 23 April 1975, only days before the fall of Saigon, Pope Paul VI named him coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon. The new authorities arrested him in August 1975 and kept him without trial for thirteen years, nine of them in solitary confinement. He was released in 1988 but stayed under restriction in Hanoi, and in 1991 he was obliged to leave the country for Rome.
In Rome he worked at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and became its president in 1998. In 2000 he was invited to preach the Lenten retreat to John Paul II and the Roman Curia. He was made a cardinal in 2001 and died in Rome on 16 September 2002 of cancer.
He recorded his prison memories in books such as The Road of Hope and Five Loaves and Two Fish, which were translated into many languages. In 2017 Pope Francis recognised his heroic virtues, and the Church calls him Venerable. The cause for his beatification remains open.
Works and witness
- Bishop of Nha Trang from 1967, at about 39 years of age
- Detained for 13 years after 1975, nine of them in isolation
- Preached the Lenten retreat to John Paul II in 2000
- President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1998
- Author of The Road of Hope, written out of his prison experience
Saints from the same country
References
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
- Nguyễn Văn Thuận, Đường Hy Vọng (The Road of Hope)
- Annuario Pontificio
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.