Father John Mary Vu Tat, who was originally made a priest without government approval, has now been ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Hung Hoa diocese. His ordination was celebrated at the Our Lady Immaculate Cathedral in Son Tay on June 15. It was attended by 24 archbishops and bishops, 200 priests and a congregation of 10,000, ucanews.com reports.
John Mary Vu Tat started studying for the priesthood in his youth, but the government closed his seminary in 1966. After that, he dug ditches, grew crops, worked as a carpenter, gave basic education to local farmers and served as village secretary for 24 years.
At the same time, he secretly studied philosophy and theology, cycling 60 kilometers to his teacher’s house and returning home each night.
He was ordained a priest – without government permission – by Bishop Tung of Bac Ninh in April 1987.
He obtained a bachelor degree in canon law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, Rome, in 1997. He served as vice rector of Saint Joseph Major Seminary in Hanoi until his appointment as auxiliary bishop was announced in March.
Hung Hoa is northern Vietnam’s largest diocese in terms of territory. It has 63 priests and 202 nuns serving 223,000 Catholics.
SIC: CTHAS