New Apostolic administrator appointed in Vietnam

Mar 13, 2018

HO CHI MINH CITY: An auxiliary bishop has been named as the apostolic administrator of a vacant archdiocese in southern Vietnam after its archbishop's unexpected death.

"Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Do Manh Hung was appointed to manage Ho Chi Minh City Archdiocese as an apostolic administrator," Father Peter Kieu Cong Tung, the archdiocese's chancellor, said on March 10.

Father Tung said the Rome-based Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples made the announcement on March 8, two days after Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc died of a stroke while he and 32 other bishops from Vietnam were paying an ad limina visit to the Holy See from March 2-10.

His body will be sent back to the archdiocese on March 13 and his funeral is scheduled for March 17.

Prior to his appointment, Bishop Hung was one of two auxiliary bishops serving the most active archdiocese in terms of pastoral activities. The other is Auxiliary Bishop Louis Nguyen Anh Tuan.

Bishop Hung now serves as head of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in Vietnam.

The new apostolic administrator, 61, taught at St. Joseph Major Seminary in Ho Chi Minh City and worked for the Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Seminarians for years before he was ordained a bishop by the late Archbishop Doc in 2016.--Ucanews.Com