Phanxicô Xaviê Nguyễn Văn Thuận, also known as Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (; 17 April 1928 – 16 September 2002), was a Vietnamese

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in the

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. He was a nephew of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm, and of Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục. Thuận, targeted for his faith as well as his family connections to Ngô Đình Diệm, was detained by the communist government of Vietnam in a re-education camp for 13 years, nine in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

named him as Venerable on 4 May 2017, a significant step on the road towards canonization.

Early life

Thuận was born in

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

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

from Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate to Viêt Nam (and later Nuncio to

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and to Canada), assisted by Archbishops Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền, titular archbishop of Parium and Apostolic Administrator of

, and Jean-Baptiste Urrutia, titular archbishop of Carpato. On 24 April 1975, he was appointed Coadjutor

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 ...

of Sài Gòn. Six days later, Sài Gòn fell to the North Vietnamese Army. Thuận, targeted for his faith as well as his family connections to Ngô Đình Diệm, 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

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, 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 Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, impeded from returning to his see,

Hồ Chí Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. 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

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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

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debt. In 1995, he was appointed Postulator of the Cause of Beatification of Brother Nguyễn Tân Văn, also known as Marcel Van. On 21 February 2001, Thuận was created a Cardinal Deacon of '' Santa Maria della Scala''. He died of cancer in a clinic in

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, Italy, on 16 September 2002, at the age of 74.

Legacy

On 16 September 2007, the fifth anniversary of the cardinal's death, the Catholic Church began the

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

process for Thuận.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

expressed "profound joy" at news of the official opening of the beatification cause. Catholics in Vietnam also positively received the news on beatification process opening for the cardinal. In the words of a catechist from the 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. ''Five Loaves & Two Fish'' 2003 * 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

My captors, my friends: Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận
''Catholic Weekly'', 18 March 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyễn, François Xavier, Văn Thuận 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 Vietnamese Roman Catholic archbishops Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishops