Thuận Văn Nguyễn

His Eminence
Thuận Văn Nguyễn
Venerable
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Cardinal Văn Thuận
See Vadesi
Appointed 24 June 1998
Term ended 16 September 2002
Predecessor Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray
Successor Renato Raffaele Martino
Other posts Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala
Orders
Ordination 11 June 1953
by Jean-Baptiste Urrutia
Consecration 24 June 1967
by Angelo Palmas
Created Cardinal 21 February 2001
by Pope John Paul II
Rank Cardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Born (1928-04-17)17 April 1928
Huê, Vietnam
Died 16 September 2002(2002-09-16) (aged 74)
Nationality Vietnamese
Denomination Roman Catholic
Previous post
  • Bishop of Nha Trang (1967–1975)
  • Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon (1975–1994)
  • Titular Archbishop of Vadesi (1975–2001)
Motto gaudium et spes
Coat of arms
Sainthood
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Title as Saint Venerable

Thuận Văn Nguyễn Vietnamese: Nguyễn Văn Thuận (pronounced [ŋʷjə̌ˀn van tʰwə̂ˀn]; 17 April 1928 – 16 September 2002), was a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was a nephew of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm, and of Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục.[1][2][3]

Pope Francis named him as Venerable on 4 May 2017, a significant step on the road towards canonization.[4]

Life

Early life

Thuận was born in Huế in 1928, the son of Nguyễn Văn Ấm and Elizabeth Ngô Đình Thị Hiệp, daughter of Ngô Đình Khả.[5] He joined the seminary at An Ninh as a teenager, and was ordained a priest on 11 June 1953, by Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Urrutia.[5] After six years of further studies in Rome, he was appointed in 1959–1967 as a faculty member and rector of the Seminary of Nha Trang.

Styles of
François Nguyễn Văn Thuận
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Vadesi (titular)

He was appointed Bishop of Nha Trang on 13 April 1967 and received episcopal consecration on 4 June 1967 at Huế from Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate to Viêt Nam (and later Nuncio to Colombia and to Canada), assisted by Bishops Philippe Nguyễn Kim Dien, Apostolic Administrator, sede plena, of Huế, and Jean-Baptiste Urrutia, titular archbishop of Carpato. On 24 April 1975, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon. Six days later, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, and Thuận, targeted for his faith as well as his family connections to Ngô Đình Diệm, was detained by the communist government of Vietnam in a reeducation camp for 13 years, nine in solitary confinement.[6]

In prison, he smuggled out messages to his people on scraps of paper. These brief reflections, copied by hand and circulated within the Vietnamese community, have been printed in the book, The Road of Hope. Through a network of influential Overseas Vietnamese, including dignitaries, like his former classmate Monsignor Trần Văn Hoài, The Road of Hope was distributed worldwide. Another book, Prayers of Hope, contains his prayers written in prison. The bishop fashioned a tiny Bible out of scraps of paper. Sympathetic guards smuggled in a piece of wood and some wire from which he crafted a small crucifix.[7]

In exile

Arms of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan

On 21 November 1988, Thuận was released by the communist government but kept under house arrest in the archbishop's house in Hanoi, impeded from returning to his see, Hồ Chí Minh City. He was allowed to visit Rome in 1991 but not allowed to return. In the following year, he was given a post at the International Catholic Commission for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland. On 24 November 1994, he was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and at the same time resigned from his post of Coadjutor Archbishop of Sai Gon. As President of the Pontifical Council, he handled issues such as Third World debt. In 1995, he was appointed Postulator of the Cause of Beatification of Brother Nguyễn Tan Văn, also known as Marcel Van. On 21 February 2001, Nguyễn Văn Thuận was created a Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala. Within a week, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry eased restrictions and the Cardinal could enter his native country with only routine immigration procedures and was afforded all the privileges normally given to overseas citizens. Nguyễn Văn Thuận died of cancer in a clinic in Rome, Italy, on 16 September 2002, at the age of 74.

Beatification process

On 16 September 2007, the fifth anniversary of the cardinal's death, the Roman Catholic Church began the beatification process for Nguyễn Văn Thuận.[8]

Pope Benedict XVI expressed "profound joy" at news of the official opening of the beatification cause.[9] Roman Catholics in Vietnam also positively received the news on beatification process opening for the cardinal. In the words of a catechist from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hồ Chí Minh City, “Nguyễn Văn Thuận is an example of holiness for Vietnamese Catholics and for the entire world.”[10]

In his 2007 encyclical, Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI referred to Thuận's Prayers of Hope, saying:

"During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude."

Dr. Waldery Hilgeman is Postulator of the Cause for Thuận's canonization.

Writings

Quotes

Ten Rules of Life of Nguyễn Văn Thuận

See also

References

  1. ↑ André Nguyen Van Chau The Miracle of Hope
  2. ↑ André Nguyen Van Chau The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison(French edition: Une vie d'espérance) 2007
  3. ↑ Michael D. O'Brien, Road of Hope: The Spiritual Journey of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan Ignatius Press 2010
  4. ↑ https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=31479
  5. 1 2 "Biography of Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan". Cardinal F.X. Thuan. Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Spe Salvi - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI on Christian Hope". Retrieved 17 March 2013. The late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement, has left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope.
  7. ↑ "Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan". Obituaries. The Daily Telegraph. 19 September 2002. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Late Vietnamese cardinal put on road to sainthood". Reuters. 17 September 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  9. ↑ "Pope rejoices at opening of cause for beatification of Vietnamese 'prophet of Christian hope'". UCANews. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "Card Van Thuan, from prison towards the altar". AsiaNews.it. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Address by Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận's sister, Elizabeth". Zenit News Agency. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  12. ↑ Our Lady of La Salette and Saint Joseph Church
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