John Trần Văn Nhàn (also known as John-Nhan Tran or John Nhàn Trần) (born February 6, 1966) is a Vietnamese-born prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop in the

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

in Georgia since 2022.

Biography

Early life

John-Nhan Tran was born in the Binh Gia district of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

on February 6, 1966, to Dung Van Tran and Lai Thi Nguyen. When Tran was two years old, his mother was shot and killed during the Vietnam War. Tran's older brother was also killed by a

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

. When Tran was nine, his family fled from

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, South Vietnam on a small boat. Running out of water, they were rescued from the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

by an American ship. The family was later resettled in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. After primary school, Tran first attended Edna Karr Junior High School in New Orleans. Deciding that he wanted to become a priest, he was accepted into the high school program of the

Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer The Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer ( vi, Dòng Mẹ Chúa Cứu Chuộc; la, Congregatio Redemptoris Matris, abbreviated CRM) is a religious institute within the Roman Catholic Church that is based in Vietnam and dominated by Vietnam ...

(then called the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix) in Carthage, Missouri, for the 8th grade in the school year of 1979-1980. He ended up only staying for three days before family circumstances caused him to drop out. Tran then transferred to a boarding high school in Goshen, New York, operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Salesians then sent him to

Don Bosco College Don Bosco College was a Roman Catholic seminary located in Newton, New Jersey. Opening in , it was operated by the Salesian Order (Society of St. Francis de Sales) until it was closed in 1989 and its 179-acre campus sold to the Sussex County, New ...

, their seminary in

Newton, New Jersey Newton, officially the ''Town of Newton'', is an incorporated municipality located in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is situated approximately by road northwest of New York City. As the location of the county's administrati ...

. The Salesians brought Tran back to Louisiana to attend

Saint Joseph Seminary College Saint Joseph Seminary College (also known as St. Ben or St. Ben's) is a Catholic seminary in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. Founded in 1891, it is operated by the Benedictine monks of Saint Joseph Abbey and the dioceses in the ecclesiastical provinc ...

Saint Benedict, Louisiana Saint Benedict (also Cedar Hill) is an unincorporated community in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It i ...

. Tran then went to

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioces ...

in New Orleans.

Priesthood

Tran was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1992, for the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Francis B. Schulte. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Tran as parochial vicar at the following Louisiana parishes: * Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in

Violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

(1992 to 1995) * Visitation of Our Lady Parish in Marrero (1992 to 1997) * St. Angela Merici parish in Metairie (1992 to 1998) * Our Lady of Divine Providence parish in Metairie (1998 to 2001) In 2001, the archdiocese appointed Tran as pastor of St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Arabi, Louisiana. The archdiocese then transferred him to St. Bonaventure Parish in Avondale (2003-2007). During this period, Tran also served as chaplain for the St. Bernard's Sheriff's Office in the civil parish of Saint Bernard. After

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

in 2005, he celebrated mass for first responders and other personnel in parking lots and nursing homes. Tran became pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in

LaPlace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...

from 2007 to 2014. In 2014, the archdiocese selected him as pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Mandeville, Louisiana, his last pastoral assignment before becoming bishop. During his time in New Orleans, Tran served on the priest personnel board and as chair of the presbyteral council. He was also dean of the St. John-St. Charles Deanery. Tran is fluent in Vietnamese and English. In 2015, Tran donated a kidney to Reverend Thanh Nguyen, a friend from Saint Joseph Seminary who was suffering

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

Episcopacy

Tran was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Atlanta and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tullia by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

on October 25, 2022. He was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

by Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer on January 23, 2023, at St. Peter Chanel Church in

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2010 census, the city had a population of 88,346. The 2020 estimated population was 94,884, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A close suburb of Atla ...

, with Archbishops Gregory Aymond and Alfred Hughes serving as co-consecrators. His episcopal motto comes from his time at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, which was inscribed above the entrance of the building and the seminary's motto.

Notes

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta official site

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trần, John, Văn Nhàn 1966 births Living people Vietnamese emigrants to the United States American Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishops