Vietnam
Bishop Vincent Nguyen Van Ban fills vacant position in Hai Phong Diocese in the north of the country
Bishop Vincent Nguyen Van Ban celebrates Mass in Ban Me Thuot Bishop’s House on March 1. (Photo courtesy of gpbanmethuot.com)
The Vatican has nominated the bishop of a diocese in Vietnam’s Central Highlands to the northern diocese of Hai Phong, which has been vacant for over three years.
On March 19, Pope Francis named Bishop Vincent Nguyen Van Ban of Ban Me Thuot residential bishop of Hai Phong. Bishop Ban was also chosen to serve as apostolic administrator of his old diocese, which is vacant and under the Holy See’s direction.
Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hanoi, former apostolic administrator of Hai Phong, made the announcement on the same day.
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“This is a delirious joy for the family of Hai Phong Diocese after more than three years of earnestly praying and waiting,” he said. “We should give special thanks to God, thank the Holy Father, and pray for the new bishop in his new ministry,” Archbishop Thien said.
The 61-year-old prelate said all 350 churches in the 343-year-old diocese rang their bells at 8am the following day to express their joy. Local priests were called on to celebrate Mass to pray for the local Church and the new bishop on that day.
Archbishop Thien, a Hai Phong native who served the diocese from 2003 until 2018 when he was nominated archbishop of Hanoi, said the late parents of Bishop Ban were from Thuy Lam Parish in Hai Phong.
He also called on them to work closely with him to build a church of synodality in the future
Born in 1956 in Tuy Hoa within Qui Nhon Diocese, Brother Ban was ordained a priest in 1993 and studied the scriptures at the Catholic Institute of Paris in France from 1996 to 2005 and gained a master’s degree in biblical theology.
In 2009, Father Ban was named bishop of Ban Me Thuot, which is home to various ethnic groups. He now serves as head of the Episcopal Commission for the Scriptures of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam.
On March 21, Father Peter Nguyen Van Nguyen, vicar general of Hai Phong Diocese, and some priests paid a formal visit to Bishop Ban in Ban Me Thuot.
Bishop Ban told them that his installation will take place on March 31. He also called on them to work closely with him to build a church of synodality in the future.
In 2021, Hai Phong Diocese had 115 priests, 61 major seminarians, 27 seminary candidates and 10 congregations and societies serving 134,000 Catholics in 98 parishes based in Hai Phong city, two provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, and part of Hung Yen province.
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