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| Bishop Dominic Dinh Mai Luong |
BISHOP Dominic Dinh Mai Luong, the first Vietnam-born bishop to serve in the U.S., died Thursday, Dec. 6, after a long illness. He was 77.
His appointment by Pope John Paul II to the office of episcopacy on April 25, 2003, was because of the enormous growth of the Catholic Church in Orange County and, more specifically, the burgeoning Vietnamese Catholic community in the region in need of a shepherd on the hierarchical level.
The words on the bishop's coat of arms summarized his journey geographically and spiritually: ‘You are Strangers and Aliens No Longer.’
At the time of his appointment, Luong acknowledged: “By calling me the first Vietnamese priest to the office of episcopacy, His Holiness in particular, and the Church in the United States in general, recognize the many contributions with which 400,000 Vietnamese Catholics, over 600 priests, and more than 500 religious have enriched the Church in the United States, especially in the area of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.”
Luong was born on Dec. 20, 1940 in Minh Cuong, about 50 miles from Hanoi in the Province of Bui Chu in North Vietnam.He attended a French-Vietnamese school and then a minor seminary. In 1956, at the age of 16, his bishop sent him to the U.S. to continue his priestly formation. He would not return home until 1979 because of the Vietnam War.
His appointment by Pope John Paul II to the office of episcopacy on April 25, 2003, was because of the enormous growth of the Catholic Church in Orange County and, more specifically, the burgeoning Vietnamese Catholic community in the region in need of a shepherd on the hierarchical level.
The words on the bishop's coat of arms summarized his journey geographically and spiritually: ‘You are Strangers and Aliens No Longer.’
At the time of his appointment, Luong acknowledged: “By calling me the first Vietnamese priest to the office of episcopacy, His Holiness in particular, and the Church in the United States in general, recognize the many contributions with which 400,000 Vietnamese Catholics, over 600 priests, and more than 500 religious have enriched the Church in the United States, especially in the area of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.”
Luong was born on Dec. 20, 1940 in Minh Cuong, about 50 miles from Hanoi in the Province of Bui Chu in North Vietnam.He attended a French-Vietnamese school and then a minor seminary. In 1956, at the age of 16, his bishop sent him to the U.S. to continue his priestly formation. He would not return home until 1979 because of the Vietnam War.
Luong was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Da Nang on May 21, 1966 by Bishop James A. McNulty at the Basilica of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna, N.Y.
After ordination he received a bachelor’s degree in physics and master’s degrees in biology and psychology. He taught biology at a junior seminary in Buffalo, where he also served as associate pastor at Saint Louis Parish.
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When a wave of Vietnamese refugees began to make their way to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon and the communist takeover in 1975, Luong was transferred to New Orleans where a large number of refugees were landing.
He served many refugees in New Orleans, where he would become director of the archdiocese’s Vietnamese apostolate and became founding pastor of Mary, Queen of Vietnam parish. He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1976.
Luong was a big part of refugee resettlement efforts in Louisiana and was viewed as “the godfather of the Vietnamese Catholic community” there, said Father John Nhan Tran, pastor of Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mandeville, La. Luong was his spiritual director in seminary.“(Luong) was involved in anything that had to do with helping Vietnamese people getting acclimated to the new environment,” Tran told the Orange County Register.
He worked as director of the National Center for the Vietnamese Apostolate and directed the U.S. bishops’ pastoral care for migrants and refugees.
Bishop Luong, who retired in 2015, remained active in the Church while based at St. Bonaventure Church in Huntington Beach, Calif. – a parish with a strong Vietnamese contingent. He told OC Catholic in a recent interview that he liked “to keep in contact with my people.”
A vigil for Luong will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13 in the Arboretum at Christ Cathedral. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 14 at Holy Family Cathedral, 566 S. Glassell St. in Orange, Calif.
A vigil for Luong will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13 in the Arboretum at Christ Cathedral. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 14 at Holy Family Cathedral, 566 S. Glassell St. in Orange, Calif.
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