CathInfo.com

https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044202/http://www.einsicht-online.org/assets/download/e1301.pdf

Ngô Đình Khả - Abp. Thuc's father

My mission to the small seminary in Anninh in the province of Quang Tri was decided between two individuals: my father— who was himself a former seminarian—and a very spiritual priest from the mission of Hue. My father said to the priest, "Of my numerous children, I wish to offer to the Lord the one whom I believe to be the best, intelligent and above average. Above all, he must obtain his 'primaire français' certificate ¹ . In my opinion, he should be sent to the small seminary after obtaining this certificate." Father Dong— such was his name- responded to him: "No, no, that will give him worldly ideas."

Father Dong had his reasons, for at that time, one could secure a good position in the French administration  and a decent salary with the 'primaire' certificate. My father believed that Father Dong was right and decided to speak with our parish priest in Phu-Cam, Father Allys. (He later became the apostolic vicar of Hue.) In our missions, one did not enter of the seminary without being introduced by a priest, their spiritual father. Therefore, my father sent me to Father Allys to serve him during Mass, to assist at the altar, accompany him when he visited the sick, or help him when he administered other Sacraments.

My father himself endeavored to introduce me to the basics of Church Latin. He was a perfect Latinist. Once, during the persecution, he had been at the General Seminary of the foreign mission in Malaysia on the island of Poulo-Pinang, which was a refuge for seminarians of the foreign mission from Paris, where Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese jostled each other. Latin was the only language spoken there. One would only return to their homeland after completing the courses of the minor or major seminary. The candidate would then serve their probation as a catechist in a parish or as a teacher at the major or minor seminary. If they passed their probation, they would be ordained.

My father completed his probation at the major seminary in Hue. He never became a priest and had to witness his students being ordained. He had to remain a layman because Msgr. Caspar, the bishop—a man from Alsace—had set a fixed number of chosen ones, and my father was not included in that number. He was unjustly left out of the list of the chosen ones. Thus, he remained focused on staying as a philosophy professor at the seminary until the age of 30. Finally, the directory called him in and said to him: "My poor child, even if you remain here until your 100th birthday, you will never be ordained, for through no fault of your own, you are not included in the list of the chosen ones established by Msgr. Caspar. However, you have an aged mother who has no one to help her. You must return there to care for her in her final days. Here is some money for the boat that takes the people from the seminary to the opposite shore of the river ‘of the perfumes.’

My father obeyed, packed his bundle, and returned to my grandmother. He then went to the priest of the Phu-Cam parish, Father Allys, to ask for help. Father Allys provided him with a translator position (for Latin) with the naval officers, a circuмstance that opened Vietnam to French domination. Thanks to this circuмstance, my father had something to live on, was able to support his mother, get married, and perfect his French, which he spoke as well as his native tongue. My father held deep gratitude towards the Seminary of Hue, and he encouraged us all those years to visit and give a certain amount of money to Father Econom to help the incoming seminarians. He often said to us: "I owe everything to the seminary: education, life principles; my debt will never be fully paid." Therefore, it is up to me to pay the remainder of the debt.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C3%B4_%C4%90%C3%ACnh_Kh%E1%BA%A3
Ngô Đình Khả (吳廷可, 1856–1923; some sources state 1850–1925) was a high-ranking Catholic mandarin in the Court of the Emperor Thành Thái of the Nguyễn dynasty in Huế, Vietnam. He helped establishing the Quốc Học (a High School for the Gifted) in Huế and was a confidant to the emperor. He strongly opposed the French dominance of the Huế Court and when the French grew tired of Emperor Thành Thái's attempts to rein in their growing influence, Khả was the only member of the Council of Ministers to refuse to sign a petition requesting the emperor's abdication. This led to him gaining widespread renown for his loyalty. However, it also led to his removal from the court and his subsequent banishment to his home village.

Khả is best-known for being the patriarch of the Ngô Đình family, the most prominent Vietnamese Catholic family. His son, Ngô Đình Diệm, was the first president of South Vietnam while another son, Ngô Đình Thục, was the third Vietnamese Catholic Bishop.