François Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân

François Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuân (born April 17, 1928 in Huế , Vietnam ; † September 16, 2002 in Rome ) was Archbishop of Saigon and later Cardinal Curia of the Roman Catholic Church . He was the nephew of the first South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm .

His name combines the western naming tradition ( François Xavier as first name before the family name Nguyên ) and the Vietnamese ( Van Thuân as a personal name is behind the family name).

Early life

In 1941, Nguyen Van Thuan entered the An Ninh Minor Seminary . After his theological training, he was ordained a priest on June 11, 1953 . After six years of further studies in Rome, he became a member of the faculty and regens of the Nha Trang seminary from 1959 to 1967 . In 1967 he was appointed and consecrated Bishop of Nha Trang .

On April 24, 1975, he was Koadjutorerzbischof of Saigon and Titular Archbishop of Vadesi . As the new Bishop of Saigon , Nguyen Van Thuan became known for his faith and family relationships with Ngô Đình Diệm . He was detained in a re-education camp for 13 years by the communist government of Vietnam, nine of which were in solitary confinement, although he had not been charged, let alone convicted. While in prison, he smuggled messages on scraps of paper for his people. These brief reflections were copied by hand and circulated in the Vietnamese community. They were later printed in the book Hope Paths. Another book, Prayers of Hope, contains the prayers he wrote while in prison.

In exile

On November 21, 1988, Nguyen Van Thuan was released by the communist government but forced into exile. He was admitted to the Vatican by John Paul II and from 1994 headed the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace , where he primarily dealt with the debt issue in developing countries.

John Paul II accepted him on February 21, 2001 as a cardinal deacon with the title deaconry Santa Maria della Scala in the college of cardinals . Within a week the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs relaxed the restrictions and the cardinal was able to travel to his home country as a foreign visitor.

On September 16, 2002, Nguyen Van Thuan died of cancer in a clinic in Rome at the age of 74.

Beatification process

On October 22, 2010 the beatification process was solemnly opened in Rome. The diocesan phase of the process was completed in June 2013 and submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for further consideration . Pope Francis called Nguyen Van Thuan on July 6, 2013 a "witness of hope". On May 4, 2017, Pope Francis awarded him the heroic degree of virtue .

Fonts

Hope paths. Message of joy from prison. Patris-Verlag, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 1993
Hope that carries us. The Pope's retreat. Herder, Freiburg 2001

literature

François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 51/2002 of December 9, 2002, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
André N. Van Chau: Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. The hope never dies. A picture of life . Munich [u. a.] 2004, ISBN 3-87996-623-0

Web links

Nguyên Van Thuân, François Xavier. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed March 10, 2017.
Entry on François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuán on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on March 10, 2017.
Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan ( Memento from March 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

^ Alliance Inter-Monastères: Bulletin de l'AIM , ISSN 1779-4811 , vol. 2018, No. 115: Vietnam. Terre de renoveau monastique , p. 40.
↑ Pope Benedict XVI. writes in his encyclical Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”, 2007): “From thirteen years in prison, nine of which spent in solitary confinement, the unforgettable Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. Thirteen years in prison, in a situation of seemingly total hopelessness, listening to God and being able to talk to him has become a growing force of hope [...] Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan told in his retreat book how long moments of inability to pray gave in his life and how he clung to the prayers of the Church: the Our Father, the Ave Maria, the prayers of the liturgy. "
^ Message from Vatican Radio June 4, 2013, accessed June 5, 2013
↑ Pope pays tribute to Vietnamese Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan , message from Vatican Radio on July 6, 2013
^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , May 4, 2017, accessed May 4, 2017 (Italian).

predecessor	Office	successor
Raymond-Marie-Marcel Piquet (vi)	Bishop of Nha Trang 1967–1975	Paul Nguyên Van Hòa
Roger Cardinal Etchegaray	President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace 1998–2002	Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino

personal data
SURNAME	Nguyên Van Thuân, François Xavier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Nguyên Van Thuân, Cardinal François Xavier (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Vietnamese clergyman, Archbishop of Saigon and Cardinal Curia of the Roman Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH	April 17, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH	Huế , Vietnam
DATE OF DEATH	September 16, 2002
Place of death	Rome

[1] Alliance Inter-Monastères: Bulletin de l'AIM , ISSN 1779-4811 , vol. 2018, No. 115: Vietnam. Terre de renoveau monastique , p. 40.

[2] Pope Benedict XVI. writes in his encyclical Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”, 2007): “From thirteen years in prison, nine of which spent in solitary confinement, the unforgettable Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. Thirteen years in prison, in a situation of seemingly total hopelessness, listening to God and being able to talk to him has become a growing force of hope [...] Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan told in his retreat book how long moments of inability to pray gave in his life and how he clung to the prayers of the Church: the Our Father, the Ave Maria, the prayers of the liturgy. "

[3] Message from Vatican Radio June 4, 2013, accessed June 5, 2013

[4] Pope pays tribute to Vietnamese Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan , message from Vatican Radio on July 6, 2013

[5] Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , May 4, 2017, accessed May 4, 2017 (Italian).