Author Topic: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc (Read 523800 times)

Persto · « **Reply #835 on:** **Yesterday** at 08:40:20 AM »

http://www.einsicht-aktuell.de/index.php?svar=2&ausgabe_id=310&artikel_id=3674
A PAGE ON THE CHURCH IN VIETNAM (Written by Abp. Thuc March 1, 1982)

H.E. Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô-dinh-Thuc

CONSECRATION
At the time, I was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Hué with several suffragan bishops; consequently, the Holy See asked me to consecrate several Vietnamese priests as bishops. There were five candidates for the episcopate: two were priests I had sent to France to gain fluency in French (Vietnam was then a French possession). They were Father Jacques Nguyen-Ngoc-Quang and Father Trân-Văn-Thiên, who later became the bishops of Cần Thơ and Mỹ Tho, respectively; the third was Father Philippe Nguyen-Kim-Dien, who later succeeded me as Archbishop of Hué; the fourth was from Tonkin and became the Bishop of Ban Mê Thuột in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam—his name was Msgr. Pierre Nguyen-Hay-Mai; the last was Msgr. Michel Nguyen-Khac-Ngu, Bishop of Long Xuyên (South Vietnam), who was also of Tonkinese origin.

Why was I chosen to consecrate these priests? Ordinarily, the Pope's representative would perform the ceremony. The reason was as follows: if the Holy Father's representative were a bishop, he would become the Pope's financial responsibility upon reaching retirement age; whereas if he did not hold episcopal rank, his home diocese would be responsible for his care.

Therefore, when the Pope who succeeded Pius XII permitted his representatives to be raised to the episcopate, they would hasten back to their homelands to be consecrated as bishops.

Thus, the Holy See invited me to consecrate the five candidates in question. Customarily, a prelate who had become a bishop would present his consecrator with two large candles. However, the five bishops I consecrated kept the candles for themselves; thus, I had the honor of consecrating five bishops *gratis pro Deo*—free of charge for the sake of God.

MARTYRS
Catholic Vietnam has given the Church as many martyrs as the Christians of Rome did during Nero's persecution; yet, we have few beatified martyrs, for we are too poor to afford the costs of canonization.

In my family, all my loved ones died as martyrs, burned in the fire that consumed our parish church—with the parish priest at their head. Only one person escaped the flames: a little girl, seven years old at the time. As the church burned, she leapt outside, landing beneath the body of a half-dead man who told her, "Hide beneath me, and when the pagans have left, you must flee." She did exactly that and later became a nun; yet, throughout her life, she always regretted not having stayed in the parish church to be burned alongside the others.

But you might ask: how did your father escape this martyrdom? At the time, my father was at the seminary in Penang—a seminary founded by the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Upon completing their courses in Latin, philosophy, and theology, these seminarians would return to their homelands to be ordained as priests by the local Vicar Apostolic.

My father followed the same path as his fellow seminarians, yet he waited several years without receiving Holy Orders. The bishop entrusted him with teaching philosophy and theology to the major seminarians, but he remained a layman. In the end, the Rector of the Major Seminary summoned him and said: "You will never be ordained a priest, because our Bishop has decided to ordain only a certain number, and—alas!" "You fall outside that category, so go out into the world; furthermore, your mother is very old and lacks the means to support herself—it is your duty to help her." My father then left the major seminary and his students to heed the Superior's advice. The Superior gave him a little money for the fare on the ferry that ran between the seminary and the Perfume River, so he could bring his mother to live with him. He then went to the nearby parish—led by Father Allys, a Breton—and explained his situation. Father Allys (known in Vietnamese as Cô Ly) took him to meet French officers so he could serve as their interpreter with the Vietnamese people. These officers spoke to my father in Latin, and he translated it into Vietnamese (at the time, the people were called "Annamites," derived from the country's name, Annam—which translates from Chinese as "Pacified South." The term "Vietnam" has only come into use recently; it signifies "Southern Viet," as the Vietnamese claim there are also Northern Viets living in the mountains and forests of present-day China. They maintain that their ancestors once occupied all of China—extending as far as the territory of modern-day Beijing—before being driven southward by ancient Chinese peoples arriving from the northern steppes.)

Thus, while working as an interpreter for the French officers, my father quickly learned the French language. Later, he decided to teach French to young Vietnamese people. To this end, he opened the first Franco-Vietnamese school in Hué, the capital of Vietnam, naming it "Quốc Học," which means "National School." The school included a class reserved for Vietnamese students who had excelled in the study of Chinese characters. My father taught them French. Thanks to this knowledge, his students rose to become high-ranking mandarins of the kingdom—some even serving as ministers to the Emperor—and out of gratitude toward my father, they helped my brothers when the latter sought to enter the mandarin service. For the Vietnamese people regarded the virtue of "gratitude" as one of the greatest virtues of all.

Among those who owed a debt of gratitude to my father was a highly intelligent and wise man named Nguyen-huu-Bai. My father had met him at the seminary—where my father was a teacher and Mr. Bai a seminarian—and later, when Mr. Bai left the seminary, my father entrusted his own mandarin duties to him. It was thanks to this support that Mr. Bai gradually rose to become the Prime Minister of the Court of Annam and the Duke of Phuoc-Mon. I was the one who attended him on his deathbed and accompanied him to his final resting place on his estate, known as the "Gate of Happiness."

My eldest brother, Ngo-dinh-Khoi, had married Mr. Bai’s eldest daughter. She bore him a son. When this son grew into a young man, he chose to die alongside his father after the latter refused to collaborate with the Communists, who had invited him to join their cause; he had told them, "I am a Catholic; my religion forbids me from collaborating with you." Enraged, the Communists condemned him to be buried alive in a deep well. His son threw himself into the well, and both martyrs for the Faith were shot by the Communists and buried within that well. When, later on, the Communists were driven out of South Vietnam by my brother Ngô-dinh-Diệm, he had their remains transferred to the large family sepulcher near Phủ Cam Cathedral—the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Huế.

Thus did our family offer its eldest son to the Lord.

Munich, March 1, 1982
(signed) † Petrus Martinus Ngô-dinh-Thuc
Former Archbishop of Huế

ATTENTION: SEMINARY
Regarding admission to the seminary planned by Msgr. Ngô-dinh-Thuc and other bishops: there are currently 31 candidates and numerous priests serving as professors.
For information regarding vocations, please write to:

FREUNDESKREIS DER UNA VOCE E.V.
(c) 2004-2018 brainsquad.de

Incredulous · « **Reply #836 on:** **Yesterday** at 09:52:09 AM »

Quote from: Persto on September 14, 2026, 06:58:47 AM

http://www.einsicht-aktuell.de/index.php?svar=2&ausgabe_id=303&artikel_id=3618
October, 1983
FALSE BISHOPS AND TRUE BISHOPS by Bp. Zamora:

"Monsignor Thuc has also been accused of having consecrated with the Modern Ritual. This was also a gratuituous and falsa accusation; because the only witnesses of such consecrations were those who gave Monsignor Thuc the lithurgical books, being those persons the most attentive, together with Monsignor Thuc, in making those consecrations follow the apostholic successions of the Traditional Catholic Church. Besides, the consecrated ones themselves would not had accepted Progressive Rituals, being them persevering Catholics interested in following the Catholic Tradition."

Dr. Eberhard Heller has made known in his publication Einsicht the exact copy of the Pontificale that was used in the consecrations:
http://www.einsicht-aktuell.de/index.php?svar=2&ausgabe_id=182&artikel_id=1936
(May, 1983)

THE EPISCOPAL CONSECRATIONS
1. EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION SE MGR. M.-L. GUERARD DES LAURIERS OP IN TOULON ON THE 7TH.
MAY 1981 BY SE ARCHBISHOP PIERRE MARTIN NGO-DINH-THUC - ACCORDING TO THE "PONTIFICALE ROMANUM" ROMAE 19O8,

Address:
SE Mgr. ML Guerard des Lauriers OP 17 rue des Bordes, ETIOLLES F - 91450 - SOISY - SUR - SEINE2. EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION MGR. MOISES CARMONA AND MGR. ADOLFO ZAMORA IN TOULON ON THE 17TH. OCTOBER 1981 BY SE, ARCHBISHOP PIERRE MARTIN NGO-DINH-THUC - ACCORDING TO THE "PONTIFICALE ROMANUM" V.19O8.

Persto: Also please remember that it has already been noted that Dr. Heller had to locate a copy of the Pontificale at the last minute, because Abp. Thuc's copy had been stolen along with other necessary things by his secretary. It was difficult to find a copy, since they were not very available, but he was able to borrow a copy, and supply all the things necessary for the consecrations.

"Gee, I actually didn't know that when I wrote my most authoritative book on the subject."

CathInfo.com

Author Topic: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc (Read 523800 times)

Persto

Re: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc

Incredulous

Re: Autobiography of Archbishop Thuc