Phanxicô Xaviê Nguyễn Văn Thuận or Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (; 17 April 1928 – 16 September 2002), was a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was a nephew 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 ...

's first president,

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...

, and of Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục. Pope Francis named him as Venerable on 4 May 2017, a significant step on the road towards canonization.

Early life

Thuận was born in Huế in 1928, the son of Nguyễn Văn Ấm and Elizabeth Ngô Đình Thị Hiệp, daughter of Ngô Đình Khả. He joined the seminary at An Ninh as a teenager, and was ordained a priest on 11 June 1953, by Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Urrutia. After three years of further studies in Rome, he was appointed in 1959–1967 as a faculty member and rector of the Seminary of Hoan Thiện, Huế.

Episcopal career

He was appointed Bishop of Nha Trang on 13 April 1967 and received episcopal consecration on 4 June 1967 at Huế from

Angelo Palmas Angelo Palmas (21 December 1914 – 9 June 2003) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Palmas was born in Villanova Monteleone, Italy, on 21 December 1914. He was ordained a pr ...

, Apostolic Delegate to Viêt Nam (and later Nuncio to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and to Canada), assisted by Bishops Philippe Nguyễn Kim Dien, Apostolic Administrator, ''sede plena'', of Huế, and Jean-Baptiste Urrutia, titular archbishop of Carpato. On 24 April 1975, he was appointed

Coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

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. Six days later,

fell to the North Vietnamese Army, and Thuận, targeted for his faith as well as his family connections to

, was detained by the communist government of Vietnam in a re-education camp for 13 years, nine in solitary confinement. In prison, he smuggled out messages to his people on scraps of paper. The brief reflections, copied by hand and circulated within the Vietnamese community, have been printed in the book, ''The Road of Hope''. Through a network of influential

Overseas Vietnamese Overseas Vietnamese ( vi, người Việt hải ngoại, or ) refers to Vietnamese people who live outside Vietnam. There are approximately 5 million overseas Vietnamese, the largest community of whom live in the Vietnamese Americans, Unite ...

, including dignitaries, like his former classmate Monsignor Trần Văn Hoài, ''The Road of Hope'' was distributed worldwide. Another book, ''Prayers of Hope'', contains his prayers written in prison. The bishop fashioned a tiny Bible out of scraps of paper. Sympathetic guards smuggled in a piece of wood and some wire from which he crafted a small crucifix.

In exile

On 21 November 1988, Thuận was released by the communist government but kept under house arrest in the archbishop's house in Hanoi, impeded from returning to his see, Hồ Chí Minh City. He was allowed to visit Rome in 1991 but not to return. The following year, he was given a post at the International Catholic Commission for Migration in Geneva,

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. On 24 November 1994, he was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and at the same time resigned from his post of Coadjutor Archbishop of Sai Gon. As President of the Pontifical Council, he handled issues such as Third World debt. In 1995, he was appointed Postulator of the Cause of Beatification of Brother Nguyễn Tan Văn, also known as

Marcel Van Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...

. On 21 February 2001, Thuận was created a Cardinal Deacon of '' Santa Maria della Scala''. He died of cancer in a clinic in Rome, Italy, on 16 September 2002, at the age of 74.

Legacy

On 16 September 2007, the fifth anniversary of the cardinal's death, the Roman Catholic Church began the beatification process for Thuận. Pope Benedict XVI expressed "profound joy" at news of the official opening of the beatification cause. Roman Catholics in Vietnam also positively received the news on beatification process opening for the cardinal. In the words of a catechist from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hồ Chí Minh City, "Nguyễn Văn Thuận is an example of holiness for Vietnamese Catholics and for the entire world." In his 2007 encyclical, '' Spe Salvi'', Benedict XVI referred to Thuận's ''Prayers of Hope'', saying:

During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude.

Dr. Waldery Hilgeman is Postulator of the Cause for Thuận's canonization.

Writings

* François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. ''Five Loaves & Two Fish'' 1969 * François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. ''The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison'' 2001 * François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. ''Prayers of Hope, Words of Courage'' 2002 * François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. ''Prières d'espérance'' 1995 * François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. ''J'ai suivi Jésus: un évêque témoigne'' 1997

Quotes

* Recorded on the Feast of the Holy Rosary, 7 October 1976, in Phú Khánh prison, during his solitary confinement: ''"I am happy here, in this cell, where white mushrooms are growing on my sleeping mat, because You are here with me, because You want me to live here with You. I have spoken much in my lifetime: now I speak no more. It's Your turn to speak to me, Jesus; I am listening to You".''

References

External links

Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận website

Nguyễn Văn Thuận Foundation website

My captors, my friends: Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận
''Catholic Weekly'', 18 March 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Van Thuan 1928 births 2002 deaths 21st-century venerated Christians History of Catholicism in Vietnam Ngo family Deaths from cancer in Lazio Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War People from Huế Vietnamese Servants of God 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Vietnam Vietnamese cardinals Vietnamese dissidents Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese refugees Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis