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Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục () (6 October 1897 – 13 December 1984) was a Vietnamese Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Huế in the
Republic of 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 international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...
from 1960 until 1968. He later lived in exile in Europe due to unrest in his country and became a sedevacantist and was consequently
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...
twice by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, but five months before he died he repented his views and was received back into the Church. He was a member of the Ngô family who ruled South Vietnam in the years leading up to the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and was the founder of Dalat University. While Thục was in Rome attending the second session of the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
, the 1963 South Vietnamese coup overthrew and assassinated his younger brothers,
Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...
(who was president of South Vietnam) and Ngô Đình Nhu. Thục was unable to return to Vietnam and lived the rest of his life exiled in Italy, France, and the United States. During his exile, he was involved with
Traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...
movements and consecrated a number of bishops without the Vatican's approval for the Palmarian and sedevacantist movements. Today, various
Independent Catholic Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who Independent Catholicism#Appeal of Independent Catholicism to Catholic and Christian tradition, self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Ind ...
and sedevacantist groups claim to have derived their
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 ...
from Thục.


Biography


Early life and family

Ngô Đình Thục was born on 6 October 1897, 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 ...
,
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, to an affluent
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
family as the second of the six surviving sons born to Ngô Đình Khả, a
mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
of the
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
who served Emperor Thành Thái during the French occupation of Vietnam. Thục's elder brother, Khôi, served as a governor and mandarin of the French-controlled Emperor Bảo Đại's administration. At the end of World War Two, both Khôi and Thục's younger brother Diệm were arrested for having collaborated with the Japanese. Diệm was released, but Khôi was subsequently shot by the
Việt Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Vi ...
as part of the
August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...
of 1945 (and not buried alive as is sometimes stated). Thục's brothers Diệm, Nhu and Cẩn, were politically active.
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 ...
François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (1928–2002) was Thục's nephew.


Priesthood and early episcopacy

At age twelve, Thục entered the
minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...
in An Ninh. He spent eight years there before going on to study philosophy at the major seminary in Huế. Following his ordination as a priest on 20 December 1925, he was selected to study
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
in Rome, and is often said to have earned three
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
s from the
Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...
in
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, theology, and
Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
; this is not substantiated by the university's archives however.Jarvis, p. 27 He briefly lectured at the Sorbonne and gained teaching qualifications before returning to Vietnam in 1927. On 8 January 1938,
Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...
created the Apostolic Vicariate of Vĩnh Long in Vietnam, and personally chose Thục (then aged 41) to be it its first Vicar Apostolic. On 4 May of the same year, with his family in attendance, Thục was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Antonin Drapier, Apostolic Delegate to Indochina, and co-consecrators Bishop Isidore-Marie-Joseph Dumortier, M.E.P., Vicar Apostolic of Saigon, and Bishop Dominique Maria Hồ Ngọc Cẩn, Vicar Apostolic of Bùi Chu. In 1950 Diệm and Thục applied for permission to travel to Rome for the Holy Year celebrations at the Vatican but went instead to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
to lobby Prince
Cường Để Cường Để (, ; born Nguyễn Phúc Dân ( vi-hantu, 阮福民); 11 January 1882 - 5 April 1951) was an early 20th-century Vietnamese revolutionary and nationalist who, along with Phan Bội Châu, unsuccessfully tried to liberate Vietnam from ...
to enlist support to seize power. They met Wesley Fishel, an American academic consultant for the U.S. government. Fishel was a proponent of the anti-colonial, anti-communist third force doctrine in Asia and was impressed by Diệm. He helped the brothers organise contacts and meetings in the United States to enlist support. With the outbreak of the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and the onset of
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
in the early 1950s, Vietnamese anti-communists were a sought-after commodity in the United States. Diệm and Thục were given a reception at the State Department with the Acting Secretary of State James Webb, where Thục did much of the talking. Diệm and Thục also forged links with Cardinal
Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. F ...
, the most politically influential cleric of his time, and Spellman became one of Diệm's most powerful advocates. Diệm then managed an audience with
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
in Rome with his brother's help, and then settled in the US as a guest of the Maryknoll Fathers. Spellman helped Diệm to garner support among right-wing and Catholic circles. Thục was widely seen as more genial, loquacious, and diplomatic than his brother, and it was acknowledged that Thục would be highly influential in the future regime. As French power in Vietnam declined, Diệm's support in America, which Thục helped to nurture, made his stock rise. Emperor Bảo Đại made Diệm the Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam because he thought Diệm's connections would secure foreign financial aid.


Diệm's rule

In October 1955, Diệm deposed Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum organised by Nhu and declared himself President of the newly proclaimed
Republic of 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 international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...
, which then concentrated power in the Ngô family, who were dedicated Roman Catholics in a Buddhist majority country. Power was enforced through secret police and the imprisonment and torture of political and religious opponents. The Ngôs' policies and conduct inflamed religious tensions. The government was biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as the allocation of land, business favors and tax concessions. Thục, the most powerful religious leader in the country, was allowed to solicit "voluntary contributions to the Church" from Saigon businessmen, which was likened to "tax notices". Thục also used his position to acquire farms, businesses, urban real estate, rental property and rubber plantations for the Catholic Church. He also used
Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...
personnel to work on his timber and construction projects. On 24 November 1960, Thục was appointed Archbishop of Huế by
Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
.


Buddhist unrest and downfall of Diệm

In May 1963, in the central city of Huế, Buddhists were prohibited from displaying the Buddhist flag during
Vesak Vesak (; Sanskrit: '), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, Visak Bochea and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhism, Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as in Tibet and Mongolia. It is among the ...
celebrations commemorating the birth of
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
, when the government cited a regulation prohibiting the display of non-government flags at Thục's request. A few days earlier, Catholics were encouraged to fly flags to celebrate Thục's 25th anniversary as bishop, but were ordered by Diem's government to fly Vietnamese flags as more important. Government funds were used to pay for Thục's anniversary celebrations, and the residents of Huế—a Buddhist stronghold—were also forced to contribute. These perceived double standards led to a Buddhist protest against the government. Buddhist leader Thích Trí Quang proclaimed a five-point "manifesto of the monks" that demanded freedom to fly the Buddhist flag, religious equality between Buddhists and Catholics, compensation for the victims' families, an end to arbitrary arrests, and punishment of the officials responsible. The protest was ended when nine civilians were killed because of a bomb, Diem government accused the
Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
being responsible . American journalists, who supported American intervention in Vietnam and opposed Diem for opposing it, blamed the military and even Archbishop Thuc for the deaths, Later, the Ngôs' forces entered the Buddhist pagodas across the country. The synchronized military operations, the speed at which banners were erected declaring the ARVN resolve to defeat communism, and doctored propaganda photos purporting to show Viet Cong infiltration of the Buddhists suggested that the actions were long premeditated. In an attempt to maintain secrecy, special printing presses had produced propaganda materials only hours before the raids. Diệm was overthrown and assassinated together with Nhu on 2 November 1963. Ngô Đình Cẩn was sentenced to death and executed in 1964. Of the six brothers, only Thục and Luyện survived the political upheavals in Vietnam. Luyện, the youngest, was serving as
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
in London, and Thục had been summoned to Rome for the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
. Because of the coup, Thục remained in Rome during the Council years (1962–65). He was among the bishops who were against the statements of the council.Gary L. Ward, Bertil Persson, and Alain Bain, eds., ''Independent Bishops: An International Directory'' etroit, MI: Apogee Books, 1990


Exile in Rome

After the closing of the Second Vatican Council, none of the relevant governments – American, Vietnamese or the Vatican – consented to Thục returning to Vietnam. Thus, he began his exile in
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 moved lodgings several times while here; from a Roman parish, to the Cistercian Casamari Abbey and then to the town of Arpino, close to Rome. According to Thục, the Americans forced the South Vietnamese government to refuse him permission to return, and that Paul VI used this inability to return to force him to resign and appoint Bishop Philippe Nguyễn Kim Điền, one of Paul VI's favorites, as his replacement. Aside from this leaving him estranged from his homeland, the fall of the Ngô family also saw him cut off from any streams of finance he previously had access to, leaving him with only what he had brought to Rome and donations from Vietnamese congregants to keep him from destitution. While the Second Vatican Council had been in session and despite claims later made by Thục, there is no evidence that he was among the traditionalist voices at the time of the Council. Nevertheless, with his own personal discontent building by the late 1960s in exile, he noticed others who had grown discontent with the liberalising changes in the Catholic world following on from the Council; the traditionalist Catholics. This pushback was most notably exemplified by the figure of Archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar, Archbishop of Dakar from 1955 to 1962. He was a major inf ...
and his Society of St. Pius X and with the controversy over this issue growing and becoming more trenchant, it was at this time in 1974 that Archbishop Thục went to the
International Seminary of Saint Pius X The International Seminary of Saint Pius X in Écône, Valais, Switzerland, is the premier seminary of the Roman Catholic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The seminary is one of the six houses for formation for the future priests o ...
in
Écône Écône is an area in the municipality of Riddes, district of Martigny, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by It ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
to give a speech, visiting the SSPX and recasting himself as an ardent traditionalist.


Consecrations of bishops and declaration of sedevacantism

A
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
priest Thục formerly knew in
Écône Écône is an area in the municipality of Riddes, district of Martigny, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by It ...
, Switzerland, Father Maurice Revaz, former Chancellor of the Swiss Diocese of Sion and professor of canon law in Ecône at the
International Seminary of Saint Pius X The International Seminary of Saint Pius X in Écône, Valais, Switzerland, is the premier seminary of the Roman Catholic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The seminary is one of the six houses for formation for the future priests o ...
of the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), came to Thục and invited him to go to
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, saying that the
Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
wanted him to render her a service. On 1 January 1976, in El Palmar de Troya, Spain, Thục ordained
Clemente Domínguez y Gómez Antipope Gregory XVII (; ; born Clemente Domínguez y Gómez; 23 May 1946 – 21 March 2005), also known by the religious name Fernando María de la Santa Faz, was the first Pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church, who in this capacity, claimed ...
— who claimed to have repeatedly witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary — and others as priests for the Carmelites of the Holy Face (later the Palmarian Catholic Church), and on 11 January 1976, consecrated Dominguez and four others as bishops.Rev. Terence R. Fulham I.H.M., ''Corona Spinarum - A Biography and defense of Archbishop Pierre-Martin Ngo-Dinh-Thuc''. When news of the illicit consecrations became public, Thục, Domínguez and all other consecrated Bishops were excommunicated by
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 ...
on 17 September 1976. Thục stated that he had gone to Palmar de Troya on the spur of the moment, though contemporary sources show him to have been a regular visitor since 1968. Later, Thuc was pardoned and readmitted to the Church. On 7 May 1981, Thục purported to consecrate another excommunicated priest Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers as a bishop. On 17 October, Thục also purported to consecrate two Mexican sedevacantist priests and former seminary professors Moisés Carmona and Adolfo Zamora as bishops. Carmona and Zamora were among the priests who formed the ''Unión Católica Trento'' (Tridentine Catholic Union). On 21 March, ''Laetare'' Sunday, he publicly proclaimed this declaration during a Pontifical High Mass in ''Sankt Michael'' Church in Munich. In response to these purported consecrations and his declaration of sedevacantism, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...
again declared him ''ipso facto'' excommunicated on 8 April 1983. In 1982, Thuc declared: Thuc's contemporaries were shocked by his actions and suggested they were due to mental illness or dementia. In 1983, Thục departed for the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
at the invitation of Louis Vezelis, an American
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
former priest who later became a sedevacantist bishop. Thục collaborated with Vezelis in the operation of a seminary in Rochester, New York, United States.


Reconciliation and death

Thục began to be increasingly sought out by the expatriate and refugee Vietnamese community, including old friends and contacts from Huế and Saigon. They facilitated his extraction from sedevacantism and Thục returned to the Catholic Church on 11 July 1984, after asking forgiveness from the Church and recanting his views. He later came to stay with the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix in
Carthage, Missouri Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 15,522 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City." History Jasper County was formed in 1841. ...
and later celebrated a Mass during the Marian Days. Thục died on 13 December 1984, at the age of 87, only a few months after being received back into the Church. He was buried in the Resurrection Cemetery in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
.


See also

* Roman Catholicism in Vietnam


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * by Bishop Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers, O.P.
Declaration of sedevacantism of Archbishop Ngô Đình ThụcPDF Document of ''Einsicht'', 1982; includes photographic documentation on many of Archbishop Thục's consecrations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngô, Pierre Martin, Đình Thục 1897 births 1984 deaths People from Huế 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Vietnam Ngo family Academic staff of the University of Paris Palmarian Catholic Church Participants in the Second Vatican Council People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Former Sedevacantists Traditionalist Catholic bishops Vietnamese traditionalist Catholics Thục line bishops Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese Roman Catholic archbishops Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishops