James Graves/ OSV Newsweekly
In times of war, hardship is almost always guaranteed. But from these hardships, hope and faith are oftentimes born from it, and the story of two Vietnamese priests and one nun prove that religion can be a savior.
Refugees from Da Nang and Hue, north of Saigon, pour ashore from navy
barges at Vung Tau, South of Saigon. (Photooï Jack Cahill/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the number of Catholic Vietnamese Americans living in the U.S. is close to 500,000. That is a staggering amount for many of the refugees, who turned to religion for solace following the atrocitities they endured because of the war. Of that number, roughly 500 are Vietnamese priests.
Father Nguyen, who was born in Da Nang in 1960, remembers the decade after the war as being some of the most horrible in his life. Starvation was a daily threat and religious freedom was impossible. He faced jail seven times for trying to escape and finally made it to america in 1986. He says his experience made him want to devote his life to something meaningful.
Sister Rosaline Nguyen, director of the Vietnamese Pastoral Center in Oakland, California, entered the convent at age 13. In 1972, she was sent to San Rafael in northern California and happened to be in the right place when Vietnamese refugees began pouring in, many of them orphans.
Father Joseph Thai Nguyen, director of the Vietnamese Catholic Center in the Diocese of Orange, California, says memories of the war still haunt him to this day.
To read more about their stories, click here.
