VENERABLE FRANCIS-XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN, CARDINAL
Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận) was born in Huế, Vietnam, in 1928. He was the nephew of South Vietnam’s first president. He was ordained a priest in 1953. In 1975 he became coadjutor archbishop of Saigon, just as the Vietnam War came to an end. Only six days after his appointment, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army and Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, targeted for his faith and connections, was arrested and detained by the regime. For the next 13 years, he endured tremendous hardships in captivity, including nine years of solitary confinement.
Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan is perhaps most famous for finding ways to celebrate Mass in prison. With the aid of other Catholic faithful outside the prison, as well as through the sympathy of his guards (some of whom later converted), he acquired small quantities of bread and wine. In his words:
"I wrote home saying 'Send me some wine as medication for stomach pains.' On the outside, the faithful understood what I meant. They sent me a little bottle of Mass wine, with a label reading 'medication for stomach pains,' as well as some hosts broken into small pieces. The police asked me: 'Do you have pains in your stomach?' - 'Yes.' - 'Here is some medicine for you!' I will never be able to express the joy that was mine: each day, three drops of wine, a drop of water in the palm of my hand. I celebrated my Mass ... At 9.30pm every evening at lights out everyone had to be lying down. I bent over my wooden board and celebrated Mass, by heart of course, and distributed Communion to my neighbours under their mosquito nets."
Not only did the cardinal draw strength from the prayers of the liturgy - he continued to draw strength from the source of the liturgy - Christ himself. If we are at times tempted to discard the prayers given to us by the Church, as if they would be less meaningful than something new or spontaneous, let us follow the example of Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who, in the most dire circumstances, found the in stable prayers of the Church a link to the unshakeable faith of the confessors and martyrs.
While imprisoned, Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan became known for his joyful spirit, sharing hope and encouragement with fellow prisoners, and writing powerful faith reflections on scraps of paper, which were smuggled out and circulated among Catholics worldwide. His experience is a powerful testimony of faith in the Eucharist and in the power of forgiveness and the redemptive value of the cross.
Upon his release in 1988, Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan remained under house arrest in Hanoi. In 1991, he was allowed to visit Rome, and instructed not to ever attempt returning to Vietnam.
In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan as the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, recognising his dedication to promoting peace, reconciliation, and social justice. He was created Cardinal February 21, 2001. Cardinal Van Thuan went to his eternal reward on September 16, 2002.
In recognition of his heroic virtues, Cardinal Van Thuan was declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2017.
Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_V%C4%83n_Thu%E1%BA%ADn - https://christianheritagecentre.com/media/nguyen-van-thuan/ https://www.ncregister.com/blog/eucharistic-shape-of-cardinal-nguyen-van-thuans-life https://sunderlandcatholic.com/news/venerable-francis-xavier-nguyn-vn-thun https://slmedia.org/blog/cardinal-van-thuan-canonization-cause
Comments
Post a Comment