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, 1956, in Tuy Hoa in

Phu Yen Province Phu may refer to: Places *PHU (Polish-Hungarian Union), personal union between Poland and Hungary in 14th century. People Given name *Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen *Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), firs ...

, the seventh of nine children in a devout Catholic family originally from Hai Duong Province who fled south at the end of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

. In 1968, he began his religious studies at the minor seminary of Làng Sông in

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...

. In 1975, he entered the major seminary of the Diocesan Training Center of the Diocese of Quy Nhơn, where he studied philosophy and theology until 1988. After completing his studies, he provided pastoral service at his home parish in Tuy Hoa.

Priesthood

He was ordained a priest on September 16, 1993, by bishop Paul Huỳnh Đông Các and was incardinated in the Diocese of Quy Nhơn. After his ordination, he served as vicar of Tuy Hoa parish until 1996, when he was sent to France to study at the

Institut Catholique de 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 obtained a master's degree in theology in 2005. Upon returning to Vietnam, he was appointed head of seminarian formation for the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

and professor at the major seminary of

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

. He was also appointed an expert during the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in October 2008.

Episcopate

On February 21, 2009,

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 ...

appointed him bishop of Ban Mê Thuột. He received episcopal consecration on May 12, 2009, from

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 ...

Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể. Within the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference, he served as chairman of the committee for sacred music for three consecutive terms from 2010 to 2019. In 2019, he was elected chairman of the Biblical Commission and re-elected for a second term for 2022–2025. During his ministry in Ban Mê Thuột, he encouraged local clergy to communicate in the ethnic languages of the local populations and introduced seminary courses in three local ethnic languages: Ede (Ê Đê), Mnong (M'Nông), and Stieng (S’tiêng). Over the years, he witnessed an increase in the number of faithful, largely due to conversions, and a growth in vocations among the youth, increasing the number of new priests, religious men, and women. He contributed to the construction of 101 new churches in the region. On March 19, 2022,

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 ...

appointed him bishop of

Hai Phong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two ...

. He took possession of the diocese on March 31, 2022.

Episcopal succession

The

episcopal succession 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 Augustin Hindi * 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 Abulyonan Mar Eliya XIV IIIAbulyonan (or ''Abolionan'') (1840 - June 27, 1894) was the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1878 to 1894. Life Eliya Peter Abulyonan was born in 1840 in Mosul to an Assyrian family. He studied three years in the ...

* 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

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 ...

, P.F.I. * Archbishop Étienne Nguyễn Như Thể * Bishop Vincent Nguyễn Văn Bản

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyễn, Vincent, Văn Bản 1956 births People from Phú Yên province Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishops Living people