Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể (1 December 1935 – 16 December 2024) was a Vietnamese Catholic archbishop who served as the archbishop of

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 ...

from 1998 to 2012. He held the title of Archbishop Emeritus of Huế.

Biography

Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể was born on 1 December 1935 in Hải Thọ, Hải Lăng District, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, into a deeply Catholic family with seven children, originating from Thua Thien Hue Province. He entered the minor seminary An Ninh in

in 1947 and then the major seminary Saint Joseph's in Saigon in 1955. He was ordained a priest on 6 January 1962 by

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 ...

Jean-Baptiste Urrutia. After ordination, he served as a professor at the minor seminary Hoan Thiện in Huế until 1968. He then went to France to study at the

Catholic Institute of Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

, where he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Chu ...

in 1970. Upon his return to Vietnam, he resumed his role as a teacher at the seminary until 1972 when he became its director. Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể died on 16 December 2024, at the age of 89. He was interred at Thiên Thai catholic cemetery.

Episcopal ministry

Following the reunification of Vietnam under the Communist government of Hanoi, on 7 September 1975,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

appointed him

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (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: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of Huế and assigned him the

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

Tipasa in Mauretania Tipasa, sometimes distinguished as Tipasa in Mauretania, was a colonia in the Roman province Mauretania Caesariensis, nowadays called Tipaza, and located in coastal central Algeria. Since 1982, it has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Sit ...

. He was consecrated a bishop on the same day by

Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền was a Vietnamese prelate. He was Archbishop of Huế during the country's period of late 20th-Century wars and eventual reunification. Biography Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền was born on March 13, 1921, in Long ...

. He assisted Archbishop Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền for eight years during the difficult post-

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

period. He resigned on 23 November 1983 for health reasons. On 23 March 1994, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator ''sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis''. In November of the same year, he obtained permission from the government to reopen the seminary of Huế, and in 1995, he was elected president of the Committee for the Clergy and Seminarians of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference, re-elected for a second term in the triennium 1998–2001. On 1 March 1998,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed him Archbishop of Huế. He took possession of the archdiocese on 9 April of the same year. Unable to travel to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...

on 14 August of the same year from Cardinal

Paul Joseph Phạm Đình Tụng Paul Joseph Phạm Đình Tụng (15 June 1919 – 22 February 2009) () was a Vietnamese cardinal.episcopal lineage The historic or historical episcopate comprises all episcopates, that is, it is the collective body of all the bishops of a group who are in valid apostolic succession. This succession is transmitted from each bishop to their successors by the r ...

is: * Patriarch Eliya XII Denha * Patriarch

Yohannan VIII Hormizd Yohannan VIII Hormizd (often referred to by European missionaries as ''John Hormez'' or ''Hanna Hormizd'') (1760–1838) was the last hereditary patriarch of the Eliya line of the Church of the East and the first patriarch of a united Chalde ...

* Bishop

Yohannan Gabriel Yohannan Gabriel (or ''Jean Guriel'', 1758–1833) was bishop of Salmas (Chaldean Archdiocese), Salmas of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1795 to his death. Life Isho'yahb Gabriel was born in Khosrowabad, West Azerbaijan, Khosrowa in 1758 and ...

* Archbishop

Joseph V Augustine Hindi Mar Joseph V Augustine Hindi (died 3 April 1827) was the patriarchal administrator of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1781 to 1827. Since 1804 he considered himself Patriarch with the name of Joseph V and from 1812 to his death he governed both ...

* Patriarch

Joseph VI Audo Joseph VI Audo (or ''Audu'' or ''Oddo'') (1790–1878) was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1847 to 1878. Early life Joseph Audo was born in Alqosh in 1790 and in 1814 he became a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He was ...

* Patriarch Eliya XIV Abulyonan * Patriarch

Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas Mar Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas (August 8, 1852 - July 21, 1947) was the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1900 until his death in 1947. Life He was born on August 8, 1852, in Alqosh. An ethnic Assyrian, he studied in the Ghazir Se ...

* Bishop

François David François David (October 14, 1870 – October 1, 1939) was an ethnic Assyrian who served as the Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Amadiyah in Iraq. He was consecrated as bishop by Chaldean Patriarch Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas on August 15, 1910. He ...

* Archbishop

Antonin-Fernand Drapier Antonin-Fernand Drapier (28 April 1891 – 30 July 1967) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was born on 28 April 1891 in Creuë-en-Woëvre, France. He was ordained priest of th ...

, O.P. * Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục * Archbishop

, P.F.I. * Archbishop Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể The

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

is: * Bishop Pierre Nguyễn Soạn (1999) * Archbishop

Francis Xavier Lê Văn Hồng Francis Xavier Lê Văn Hồng (born June 30, 1940) is a Vietnamese prelate. He was Archbishop of Huế until 2016 and the Vice President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam. Biography Francis Xavier Hồng was born on June 30, 1 ...

(2005) * Bishop

Vincent Nguyễn Văn Bản Vincent Nguyễn Văn Bản (born November 25, 1956) is a Vietnamese Catholic bishop, serving as the Bishop of Hải Phòng since March 19, 2022. Biography Early life and education Vincent Nguyễn Văn Bản was born on November 25, 195 ...

(2009)

References

External links

* David M. Cheney,
Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể
', in ''

Catholic Hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Etienne, Nhu The 1935 births 2024 deaths People from Quảng Trị province Vietnamese Roman Catholic archbishops Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Vietnam 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Vietnam 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Vietnam