Local priests visit diocese in Vietnam

Father Peter Do, center, received the gifts during a Mass celebrated Feb. 8 at Xuan My Church in Vinh, Vietnam. Father Do and Father Michael Wimsatt, left, traveled to the Diocese of Vinh, the home diocese of two Archdiocese of Louisville seminarians, last month. (Photo special to The Record)
Father Peter Do, center, received the gifts during a Mass celebrated Feb. 8 at Xuan My Church in Vinh, Vietnam. Father Do and Father Michael Wimsatt, left, traveled to the Diocese of Vinh, the home diocese of two Archdiocese of Louisville seminarians, last month. (Photo special to The Record)

By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
To Kien Nguyen and Minh Vu, Vietnamese seminarians in the Archdiocese of Louisville, a visit by two Louisville priests to their homeland in February was nothing short of a “gift.”

Father Michael Wimsatt, director of the archdiocese’s Vocation Office, and Father Peter Do, pastor of St. Bartholomew Church, traveled to the Diocese of Vinh, Vietnam, Feb. 1 to 12 as guests of Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop. They represented Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, who was invited by the bishop to concelebrate a Lunar New Year Mass. Archbishop Kurtz wasn’t able to attend.

Seminarians Nguyen and Vu are in their second year of studies at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Southern Indiana. Following their ordination to the priesthood, the seminarians will serve as priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville for a few years before a decision will be made as to whether they will return to their homeland, said Father Wimsatt.

The relationship between the Diocese of Vinh and the Archdiocese of Louisville is still budding, but it shows “a lot of promise and possibility,” said Father Wimsatt. Both dioceses, he noted, have realized that they “can be of mutual assistance to each other.”

Father Wimsatt said he and Father Do received a warm welcome from the families they met during their visit. And the priests celebrated Mass at the seminarians’ family parishes.

It’s been about two years since the seminarians have seen their families.

“We were, in a way, ambassadors of these men to their families,” said Father Wimsatt.

Father Wimsatt said he reported to the families about how their sons are doing and how the young men have been received in the archdiocese.

“Father Do and I have enormous admiration for them,” said Father Wimsatt. “It was easy for us to say wonderful things about them.”

Nguyen said the priests’ visit brought “peace and happiness” to his family.

Vu, who is the youngest of seven siblings, said his father passed away in 2008 around the time of the Lunar New Year and his mother now lives alone.

“Father Michael and Father Peter’s visit brought my presence to her on some level,” said Vu. “They brought consolation to her.”

Overall, Father Wimsatt said the trip was a “wonderful experience of the universal church.”

“The Catholic witness in Vietnam is very fervent. To see the church as a source of hope and life in Vietnam is a reminder that the church is a source of hope and life for all people,” he said.

Father Do said that despite hardships among Vietnamese people — such as a high unemployment rate among young Vietnamese — the people he encountered have remained joyful.

“They have a hard life, but they are happy and trust in God,” said Father Do.

The timing of the trip, during the Lunar New Year celebration, made it all the more special, said Father Do, who is a native of Saigon in southern Vietnam, but has been a priest for the Archdiocese of Louisville for close to 14 years. Father Do said being there during the festivities was like “re-living his youth.”

Between 35,000 and 40,000 Vietnamese — Catholics and non-Catholics alike — made a pilgrimage to a shrine in Vinh to pray to St. Anthony of Padua and “dedicate the year of labor” to him on new year’s day, Father Do noted.

Seeing the people and being a part of the festivities, he said, was a “very touching and emotional” moment for him.

The Nguyen and Vu families felt the same way, he said. “They miss their sons, but they are proud.”

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