Sydney
10 August 2003
Home
Archive
Subscribe
Links
Contact
Catholic MPs told to oppose same-sex ‘marriage’ moves
Medical equipment shipped to islands
Honour a ‘bolt from the blue’
Blessing for the infertile
Your gifts send Susan to Lourdes
Landmark dates for Fr Joe, escapee
Bishops applaud refugee move
Liberal arts focus at Campion College
Faith, ecology network
Editorial: Tale of a tiger
Letters: Move the world?
Vocation Awareness Special: Are you doing what God’s calling you to?
Living ‘in the spirit of Mary’
Mercy at the heart of a vocation
Marie’s Song of Mercy
Children of the rock - John Paul II
Kim received faith ‘through God’s words’
People you meet are the ‘best thing’ for a priest
Divisions cast aside
Voice of youth: Downside to benefits of plurality
Tribute to the man in the bus shelter
Landmark dates for Fr Joe, escapee
Fr Joseph Mai Van Thinh has had two landmark anniversaries this year: in January he celebrated 25 years as a Redemptorist and last month he celebrated 20 years in Australia.
Fr Joe, who is stationed at the Redemptorist House in Kogarah, escaped from South Vietnam in 1982 and arrived here via Indonesia the following year.
He had been born in North Vietnam, but was taken to the South as a child by his parents to escape persecution.
In Saigon he was able to attend Catholic schools and study at Saigon University.
Joe felt a special call from God in 1972 to join the Redemptorists and began his postulancy that same year.
After the fall of Saigon to communist forces in 1975, he worked with the priest in the local parish, doing what he could to support the people in their Catholic faith.
The communists kept a watch on monasteries and people trying to enter religious life, but Fr Joe was able to take his vows as a Redemptorist in 1978.
Then he was interrogated over his work for justice and human rights. He escaped after six months in jail.
He completed his studies after arriving in Australia and was ordained in 1992.
He worked in Hong Kong for two years before returning here to continue his apostolate to the Vietnamese Catholic Community in Sydney.