From Vietnam to the Waikato
Recently the diocese ran its annual seminary appeal. With the ordination of Father Adam Kirkeby in 2022, it means we now have no current seminarians, which may leave you wondering - why the appeal. We continue to pray that young men in New Zealand will spend time seriously discerning their vocations. Meanwhile, we have two Vietnamese students who have already taken the big step to discern a potential calling to the priesthood. Given their desire to enter the seminary, they are currently enrolled in Waikato University to strengthen their English. As with any enquirer to the seminary, they are carefully discerning a call to priesthood, and at any point either the man himself or or the Church may discern that priesthood is not for them - this is not a failure of the process or in the candidate, but a success.
Seminarians are supported by their individual diocese, so your kind donations support them in their studies and we can also continue to contribute to the upkeep of Holy Cross Seminary, where, God willing, these young men will be living and studying at some point.
On a lovely sunny weekday afternoon, during their lecture lunch break, I got the opportunity to hit the campus and get to know our students, Nhat Long Cao and Hung Van Ha.
Nhat and Hung are from two separate dioceses in Vietnam, but both gave me a similar account, which proved to be quite the learning curve, of the life of a Catholic in Vietnam. Daily Mass is expected and Masses can start any time from 4.30a.m. with up to 2000 people. A lot of scheduled Mass times mean there are no excuses for not attending. For me, coming from the culture in New Zealand where our diocesan priests are so stretched with their time, I couldn’t understand how the priests can offer so many Masses per day. Once Nhat showed me a photo of a recent intake for the entry exam to enter seminarian studies I understood. The photo looked more like the size of our Sunday Mass congregation than a picture of the faces of so many men who have discerned and answered God’s calling. With 150 sitting the entry exam only around thirty will be accepted - if you don’t make the cut, then it’s a two-year wait to sit the exam again. However once you are older than 28, that is it, you can no longer sit the exam. Given these young men are still well within the age bracket to enter seminary in Vietnam we are extremely grateful to the dioceses of Vinh and Ha Tinh for the gift of these two young men. They are ready to serve the Lord in New Zealand and are more than happy to be here for the people of the Hamilton Diocese.
Nhat, confirmed with the name of St Joseph, and Hung, St Peter, didn’t know each other before coming to New Zealand but now are as close as brothers. Nhat has one brother and sister back home while Hung only has sisters, four of them! One of Hung’s cousins has just celebrated his third year as a priest and in that same family two other brothers are priests.
When I asked what the biggest challenge was I assumed it would be the English language. It turns out it’s the cold, given “back home” it is currently sitting around 40 - 43 degrees.
We are blessed to have Father Matt Gibson and Father Isaac Fransen in our diocese who have taken these men under their wing. Ordained in the past five years, the seminarian years are still fresh in these priests’ minds, and their time discerning priesthood also. There has been plenty of time for Nhat and Hung to quiz them over any concerns between road trips and learning to ski. Fathers Matt and Isaac took them on a trip to Gisborne where they visited Rere Falls, the Eastwoodhill Arboretum, Tokomaru Bay, and Tolaga Bay Wharf, and spoke to a Year 11 class at Campion College.
Recently they travelled south to Invercargill to the double ordination for the Diocese of Dunedin of Joseph Long Van Nguyen and John the Baptist Suu Van Nguyen. These new priests have a similar story, arriving here not knowing one another and speaking very little English, so perhaps in this moment we see a glimpse into the future of Nhat and Hung’s story.
When you are next at St Columba’s or the cathedral make sure you introduce yourself to these young men. You might find Nhat behind the piano at a Sunday Mass and Hung often assists Fr Isaac with the exposition for young adults on a Friday night. It was an absolute pleasure to get to know them, and I know you will all enjoy their companionship too.
We hope by introducing them to you, you will keep them in your prayers, and we can all perhaps joyfully celebrate, with God’s grace, in eight years at their ordination.
