Nguyen Van Thuan

Cardinal Van Thuan's life is a story intertwined with the suffering of his family and his homeland. Born in Vietnam, his family lived on the fringes of power, but soon became persecuted. One of his uncles, Diem, is repeatedly challenged to assume power as prime minister, which he does as a service to his country. But he will soon be killed, like other relatives of Van Thuan. He lived 13 years in captivity. A bishop, but prevented from exercising his duties. Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Saigon, with the right of succession, he is prevented from assuming the position until the end of his life. A prisoner, first, and then exiled, although with the nuance that he could return to Vietnam. The communist regime did everything to silence him, to forget him, to make people forget him. Even after freeing him, they advise him to take a vacation in the Vatican, to work at the Holy See, so as not to assume any position in the hierarchy of the Vietnamese Church.
Wherever he went, he left a ray of hope, faith, and trust in God. This work, in the style of a biography, narrates his life, the story that led him to the priesthood and episcopate, the sufferings he endured in captivity, until he became President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and later made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
He was born on April 17, 1928, and died on September 16, 2002. We share the words of John Paul II at his funeral:
"In his final days, when he could no longer speak, he fixed his gaze on the crucifix before him. He prayed silently as he consummated his last sacrifice, crowning a life marked by heroic conformity with Christ on the cross."
Now that the Lord has tested him, like “gold in the crucible,” and accepted him as “a burnt offering in sacrifice,” we can truly affirm that “his hope was full of immortality” (cf. Wis 3:4-5). It was full of Christ, the life and resurrection of all who trust in him.
Just like his life, the death of Cardinal Van Thuan was also, in fact, a true testament to hope. May his spiritual legacy, like his hope, be "full of immortality."
He leaves us, but his example remains. Faith assures us that he did not die: he simply entered the eternal day, that day which knows no sunset.