Father Joseph Nguyen, who was once a prisoner and a refugee, now prepares for episcopacy
The B.C. Catholic
A man who fled Vietnam by boat, faced imprisonment, and lived in a refugee camp, all to answer the call to become a priest, is about to become a bishop.
Father Joseph Nguyen, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, was chosen by Pope Francis to become the next Bishop of Kamloops. He sat down with The B.C. Catholic to talk about his future as the head of a diocese, and about the arduous, action-packed journey that brought him to the priesthood.
The B.C. Catholic: You travelled to Kamloops right after you were appointed its bishop. What was your first impression?
Father Joseph Nguyen: It’s totally different from Vancouver. Sometimes I feel that we take everything for granted here. Over there, it is very challenging.
Geographically, the diocese is so big and the people are very scattered. They have 61 communities, but only 20 priests. Each priest needs to take care of two or three communities.
The roads are rougher than Vancouver. Winter there is very cold, with a lot of snow, not like in Vancouver. Also, the pastoral centre is very humble, very simple. When I went there, I met all (of the staff): only seven of them. We have 100 here!
BCC: Do you know anyone there?
FJN: The vicar general there is Vietnamese. We grew up in the same village, we went to the same elementary school, and we entered the same high school seminary. We escaped together. We were in prison together. We were in a refugee camp together.
When we were in the refugee camp, the Kamloops diocese sponsored him and Vancouver sponsored me. That’s why we separated.
BCC: You were the Vancouver archdiocesan vocations director from 2010-2015. What is the vocations situation in Kamloops?
FJN: They are not doing very well. They only have one or two seminarians right now. That’s one thing I’ll need to work on.
In Vancouver, it is a great blessing: we have priests in every church. Many people do not know that. Sometimes we take it for granted. We have priests in every church, and sometimes we have two or three.
Vancouver is the only diocese in the whole of North America where we have priests in every church. Even in Toronto, they don’t have that.
It’s not because we do well with vocations, but we have so many priests from other countries who like to serve here. If, one day, we don’t have priests from other countries, then what?
BCC: Your father once compared your vocation story to Jonah’s. Can you share a bit of that story?
FJN: The more I tried to respond to the priesthood, the worse it got.
In Vietnam I tried so hard for my vocation, then the Communists took over. The bishop picked a few seminarians underground, and I was one of them, but then they found out and they kicked me out again.
Not only that, but they gave me the title “henchman of the Vatican.” They watched me. Wherever I went, they warned people in the area: “Watch this young man. He’s the henchman of the Vatican. He’s the anti-Communist.”
It made it so hard for me, and I was in prison a few times because of that.
When I met with my bishop, he said to me: “If you are faithful, I will ordain you in secret.” I was so happy. I talked to my spiritual director about this. He said: “No, if the bishop ordains you in secret, he will be in trouble, you will be in prison, and we cannot do anything for the Church.”
He whispered to me: “If you’d like to be ordained, go!” That’s why I escaped (by boat).
On my first attempt, we were in the water and a storm blew us back and I ended up in prison. I questioned myself: does God really want me to go? I escaped again. After three days, I was rescued by a German ship.
BCC: After rescue at sea and ending up in a refugee camp in the Philippines, what came next?
FJN: When I was in the refugee camp, I got in a car accident: three months in hospital. I thought that was a sign that God didn’t want me anymore.
When I arrived in Canada, I struggled with my (dying) nephew, with my English, with everything. Back home, my mom was in the hospital; they put my dad in prison.
I wrote to my dad that I had to discontinue my vocation. I said I would work and help financially; the family was really in need. He wrote me a long letter saying, “If God is really calling you, you have to open yourself.”
He compared my story to that of Jonah. “You were rescued by a German ship, and Jonah was rescued by a big fish; so do it! When God sends you, you have to do something for Him.”
As I look back now, all the struggles I had in the past have become a blessing. Why did He put me in prison? He trained me to be a better person.
I had spent time in prison, then I became a chaplain for prisons. I still remember it vividly. I had Mass on Sundays. Sometimes there was only one inmate: the pro-life activist Mary Wagner. I just came to say Mass and give her Communion. What a blessing!
God put me in hospital for three months: four days in a coma. Everyone thought I couldn’t survive, but I did. Now, as a priest, every two or three weeks, I get a phone call to go to a hospital. Families know me. Because I have been in hospital, I know how people feel, so I can be a better instrument for the Lord.
When I came here, I didn’t know any English. In Vancouver now, we have so many immigrants. They don’t know English. I know how to encourage them.
BCC: What message does that give to other people who are refugees, inmates, or hospitalized?
FJN: God loves us. He always finds a way to show His love to us, but we need to be patient. We need to open ourselves prayerfully.
If we look at things without prayer, we will quit and run away, but if we look at things with a prayerful heart and a prayerful mind, believing and trusting that God loves us and has sent us a message, we will find a way.
Father Nguyen will be ordained Bishop of Kamloops on Aug. 25.Z
