Fr Hung Nguyen SVD has returned to the Australia Province where he undertook the Overseas Training Program some years ago, to complete English language studies before beginning his pastoral ministry.
Fr Hung’s arrival in Australia for his first missionary assignment since taking his final vows and being ordained a priest in Vietnam, was delayed by two years, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
“I got my visa and ticket to go to Australia, but because of the COVID pandemic, my flight was delayed,” he says.
“Thanks to a letter from the Father Provincial Superior of the SVD Australia Province to the SVD Vietnam Province, they then sent me to minister in a parish in northern Vietnam.
“At the end of 2021, after being approved by the local bishop, this parish was assigned to the SVD in Vietnam to take care of. After one year working in the North, I was sent to another parish, where I worked as an assistant priest.”
Hung was born and raised in the countryside of Vietnam’s Dak Lak province. Dak Lak is one of five highland provinces in the South-Central region of Vietnam.
He attended a boarding school run by the Order of St Joseph, which later merged with the SVD and he joined the Divine Word Missionaries in 2002 after graduating from high school.
He was ordained to the priesthood on January 7, 2020 in Vietnam.
Fr Hung chose the Australia Province as the place he wished to be assigned to because of his positive experience here as a student in 2014.
During his time in the Overseas Training Program, he spent time in a variety of SVD ministries throughout Australia, including Central Australia.
“Before I took my final vows, I chose Australia Province as the place I wanted to return to because there are many different cultures in this province,” he says.
“I love to be blessed by the Holy Spirit in the same way the apostles received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, when they spoke and understood new languages.”
“I am ready to go anywhere the Province sends me,” he says.
“Everything will be new, and I will adapt to the new living conditions. It is important for me to find ways to accompany my SVD brothers and to accompany parishioners.”
PHOTO: Fr Hung Nguyen SVD.