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A Saint (English) | Một Vị Thánh (Vietnamese)
(A Reflection Attributed to Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan)
by Bao H. Nguyen

I know of him through a book given to me by chance. The words in the book are simple, sincere, yet they contain profound teachings and reflections that are heartfelt, deep, sharp. When I read it, my whole being seemed to be caught up into the spirit of the book and the voice and portrait of the author appeared to take on flesh and blood beside me. He is Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.

Those who knew him, personally or indirectly, Catholics, Buddhists, Caodaiists, nationalists, communists, foreigners, all concur that he was a polymath – a Renaissance man of Vietnam and of the world. I have read books about him and admire greatly his unprecedented successes as well as his outstanding capacities. When he was a young priest, he was among the few chosen by the diocesan bishop to be sent to Rome for advanced studies. When he was only 31 years old, he graduated at the top of his class; he earned a Doctorate in Canon Law Summa cum Laude. Returning to Vietnam he was appointed Rector of a minor seminary, then Vicar General of the archdiocese of Hue. He spoke and wrote fluently at least eight different languages. When he was 39 years old, he was appointed by the Holy Father to be the first Vietnamese bishop of the diocese of Nha Trang, one of the youngest bishops in the world at that time. Like St. Francis de Sales, he had an extraordinary method of winning over people’s hearts. With a gentle style of preaching, many times witty, but never without brilliant depth, almost no one who heard him was untouched by him. First timers who encountered him were often impressed by his approachability. In his role as the Shepherd of Nha Trang, he advanced his diocese expeditiously in various fields of religion and society alike: from the rapid increase in the number of seminarians, novices, and lay ministers, to progress in areas of education, economy, and social justice. Within a short period of time, the fruit of his episcopal ministry surpassed the standard. Many other dioceses in Vietnam started to look to Nha Trang as the archetype for total development and advancement. During that same time, the Vietnamese Conference of Catholic Bishops appointed him President of the Committee of Justice and Peace, President of the Committee of Social Communication, and President of the Vietnam Development Committee. His credibility began to rise in the Conference of Bishops of Asia and in the world. Though he was a rising leader of great promise, his whole being radiated only one pure, authentic heart as a disciple of Christ Crucified. He did not regard his achievements as something to be sought, rather as great obligations given to him by God to be fulfilled to the best of his abilities. On his episcopal ring, he had the following words engraved: “Todo pasa”, cited from a prayer of St. Teresa of Avila, “Todo pasa, solo Dios basta” (All things pass, God alone is sufficient). At 47 years of age (in 1975), Pope Paul VI appointed him coadjutor archbishop of Saigon. Because of the critical wartime situation, he was ordered to assume his new assignment without delay; he had no opportunity to say goodbye to the faithful of Nha Trang. He cried that night. Though the transfer was extremely difficult for him, he went in absolute peace for he was obedient to the Successor of St. Peter. He was to be arrested a few months after. The next thirteen years, nine of which was solitary confinement, his prison was his cathedral and his fellow inmates, full of bitterness, anger, and the desire for vengeance, were his parishioners. He also considered his jail guards, who had been trained to treat him as an extremely dangerous criminal of the state, as part of his flock.

Knowing about him through conversations with those who lived and worked with him, I recognize in him a person of prayer and contemplation. Yes, he was passionate in his work but all of those works came to be because he prayed. “Prayer is of prime importance in our lives; second is sacrifice; and only in third place is activity” (The Road of Hope #119). Like St. Francis Xavier, his patron, he was immersed in various ministerial activities and missions, wishing to make progress in all areas entrusted to his care. But his flickering flame of activity and zeal for the missions were ignited in the contemplative hours he spent with the Eucharistic Christ. In the seemingly endless time of his solitary confinement, he suffered numerous punishments and cruelties that taxed his human physicality and mentality to their limits. His interior and exterior perseverance, together with his exceptional determination, seemed to be totally exhausted. There was a time when his photographic memory could not even remember the Our Father or Hail Mary. “Ave Maria” were the only two words he could recall and offer to the Holy Mother of the Innocent who was crucified for the world.

I admire him also for his willingness to sacrifice – and to do so with absolute peace. Though his sacrifice was not in the same form and shape as Fr. Damien’s of Molokai, it was certainly at the same level. Born into a household that breathed politics daily, he was consistently misunderstood and attacked on all fronts for his outstanding ministerial initiatives and achievements. Later in his life, for the wellbeing of the People of God and to remain faithful to the Church, he accepted imprisonment and then exile. His altruism transformed and converted a great number of those who misunderstood or prosecuted him. His love was drawn from Christ the Most Holy and from the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. This love healed many divisions among different religious and political groups in Vietnam; it also attracted many to the beauteous side of the Church. And like the young Fr. Damien, the young bishop Nguyen Van Thuan was also handsome and charming.

When he was released after thirteen years’ imprisonment without trial, the communist government expelled him from of his beloved country; he was never to return. The free world and the Holy See welcomed him with open arms. Being a bishop without a see, he went around the world to give witness to the divine love that conquers all and to the hope that never dies. Not focusing on a wounded past or on opportunities for vengeance, he preached forgiveness, reconciliation, and love – the love that unifies all peoples. He became a witness of hope to a broken and despairing world. The former prisoner was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in 1998. Truly, hope does not die! The first Vietnamese bishop of Nha Trang became the fourth cardinal of Vietnam. And when some experts were predicting the next successor to the frail Pope John Paul II, Nguyen Van Thuan was listed among the top candidates.

I own much to him because he taught me so much about the Church, and he taught me to love the Church – the Church of Christ that had survived for two thousand years and will continue to the end. What I know about the Church, her teachings, the Scripture, the saints, the witnesses, the councils, especially the Second Vatican Council, I learned indirectly from a series of books he wrote about hope. Like the lay minister Ange Hattei, I am blessed to live in the awareness that I belong to a Church that is universal and that consists of saints and sinners. Thanks to him, I am proud to belong to a human institution that has a governing method that is prophetic, orderly, and respectful.

Having met Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan only once during his lifetime, I dreamed about imitating his talents and qualities. He was an excellent scholar, a superior leader, an exceptional preacher, a wise intellect, a faithful bishop, an authentic disciple, a true patriot, a kind person. He attracted the learned, he dialogued with the non-believers, he made tireless efforts to advance in all areas, he lived the present moment, he befriended all who saw him as an enemy. He transformed whatever was not of love. I now realize that the quality I love most about Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, and hope most to imitate, surpasses all his many successes and achievements, talents and capacities – it is his holiness because he is a saint. *

* There are 117 martyrs, one Blessed Martyr André Phú Yên in Vietnam, but there is no non-martyr canonized saint. The cause for the Beatification of Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was opened on September 16, 2007, five years after his death (the shortest time a cause can be open after the candidate’s death). God willing, if he is beatified, and subsequently canonized, he would not only be the first canonized non-martyr saint of Vietnam, but also throughout Southeast Asia, and only the second in the entire continent of Asia, after St. Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, a religious sister from India whom Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed a saint on October 12, 2008.