Philippe Trần Văn Hoài
Philippe Trần Văn Hoài (March 22, 1929 – February 2, 2010) was a Monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church.
In the 1980s, he was mandated by the Vatican with the responsibility of shepherding the global Vietnamese Catholic Diaspora. He organized a freedom of worship gathering, “Prayer Day for Peace in Viet Nam” at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II and leaders of the main Vietnamese religions. He also wrote the foreword to the first edition of The Road of Hope, a book compiling the messages of François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận during his 13-year imprisonment by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He celebrated 50 years of priesthood with the 2009 publication of his book, The Human Destiny of Jesus Christ, which he dedicated to "the faithful of all religions".
Early life
He was born in An Ninh, Cua Tung, in central Vietnam, the second child in a family of modest wealth and limited political connections. In 1943, he entered An Ninh Minor Seminary, where he was a classmate of the future Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận. After the conclusion of French occupation of Vietnam in 1954, he was ordained a priest in 1959 at La Vang, the sanctuary commemorating a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was the first priest to be ordained at the sanctuary and, as of 2010, one of three priests to receive the honor. Soon after his ordination, he was appointed parish priest of the Bac Vong, Hue diocese. In 1961, he was appointed a faculty member of Phu Xuan Minor Seminary and later in 1962, a rector of Hoan Thien Minor Seminary. Upon being selected to study at the Vatican, he left Vietnam in 1969. [citation needed]
Vatican life
After studying for four years at the Vatican he was appointed Vice Rector of Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide (Pontificia Universita Urbania) in 1973.[1][2]
With the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, he was appointed Director of the Vietnamese Refugee Office of Caritas Italiana, a major Catholic Italian charity, in 1978. The following year, at a time of “compassion fatigue” when an increasing number of countries stranded Vietnamese boat people at sea, he led a rescue mission by accompanying three Italian Navy frigates to the South Pacific. From 1984-87 he was Treasurer of Pontificio Collegio Missionario Internazionale San Paolo Apostolo, the college of future bishops, cardinals and other important prelates who have been sent to Rome to study. [citation needed]
He was conferred the title Monsignor in 1986. In 1988, Monsignor Philippe Tran Van Hoai was appointed by Pope John Paul II as Director of the Center of Pastoral Apostolate for Overseas Vietnamese, to oversee the global Vietnamese Catholic Diaspora.[3][4] He held this title until 2000, traveling extensively to work with Overseas Vietnamese communities from Europe, Japan, Australia to the U.S. It is in this capacity that the bulk of his contributions to Vietnamese and Catholic history was achieved. [citation needed]
Specifically, he played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in both the publishing and global distribution of The Road of Hope, the book that was secretly written in prison by his long time friend, former classmate and then-Archbishop Francois Xavier Nguyen, who had been detained by the government of Vietnam for his faith and family connections. Philippe Tran Van Hoai wrote the foreword in the first edition of the book and campaigned to keep Archbishop François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận's name in the global conscience. [citation needed]
In 1988, Philippe Trần Văn Hoài was appointed to chair the Organizing Committee of the Celebration of the Canonization of 117 Vietnamese martyrs. Trần Văn Hoài founded the global Vietnamese Laity in Diaspora Movement in 1992, an association that encourages Overseas Vietnamese parishioners to actively engage in politics to address social injustice. The movement now has 12 chapters around the world. In 1992 he organized a freedom of worship gathering, “Prayer Day for Peace in Viet Nam”, at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II and leaders of the main Vietnamese religions. This is a first in the history of Vietnam. He was subsequently nominated to chair an inter-religious body to promote discourse and association. [citation needed]
In 1995, he presided over the establishment of the Vietnamese cultural center Nguyen Truong To (NTT), publishing Dinh Huong. Under the umbrella of NTT, there were many firsts in the history of Overseas Vietnamese: an inter-religious discussion of Vietnamese theology in Switzerland (1996); a symposium to begin a dialogue between Overseas Vietnamese teachers, professionals and students (1996); a forum for Vietnamese emigrants to deliberate the moral foundation for national reformation and restoration (1997). [citation needed]
Later life
He retired in 2000. In 2007, in response to the religious persecution of Father Nguyen Van Ly in Vietnam, he penned an open letter to the Catholic symposium in Orange County, California, arguing for the release of Father Ly.[5]
Last years and death
He continued his scholarly writing and in 2009 published The Human Destiny in Jesus Christ, which he dedicated to "the faithful of all religions".[6] The same year he celebrated 50 years of priesthood. He died on February 2, 2010, aged 81, in Rome, from heart disease. He is buried on Vatican grounds at Campo Verano in Rome.
Global Responses by Overseas Vietnamese Communities
Among the memorial services held in his honor were those in the US (Boston, Orange County, California), Europe (Netherlands, Rome), Tokyo and Vietnam (Nha Trang, Tri Buu, La Vang). Roman Catholic priest and prominent Vietnamese dissident, Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly authored a letter of condolences from prison in Vietnam, calling Monsignor Tran Van Hoai one of the great champions of Vietnamese refugees and a patriot and visionary of the highest order.[7]
Bishop Mai Thanh Luong of California, the first Vietnamese-American bishop in North America, honored Monsignor Trần Văn Hoài as his role model, lauding him as "a person who was a visionary in regards to the causes of the people and who contributed much to theology".[8]
Quotes
- "What continues to push us, despite all the sacrifices, is the knowledge that our suffering will benefit the Church and our beloved Vietnam." — Taken from “In Search of a Theological Vietnam,” a paper presented at an inter-religious discussion of Vietnamese theology in Switzerland (1996)