ASTORIA — A novena began May 3 at a Queens parish, praying for the upcoming beatification of a 20th-century Vietnamese priest who, a local priest says, inspires devotions much like those of St. Carlo Acutis.
The beatification of Father Francis Xavier Truong Buu Diep, martyred in 1946, is set for July 2 at a shrine church built for him in Tac Say, a small town where he served in Vietnam’s Ca Mau province.
In advance of the beautification, Msgr. Cuong Pham is leading the novena for the priest through June 28 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria, where Msgr. Pham is the pastor. He is also the coordinator for the Ministry to the Vietnamese Immigrants in the diocese.
A solemn Mass of thanksgiving with a procession for Father Diep will occur at 3 p.m. on July 12 at the parish, the day after the feast day celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Msgr. Pham said the parish and the apostolate for the Vietnamese are adding to the worldwide excitement for the beautification of Father Diep.
“He’s sort of like Carlo Acutis,” Msgr. Pham said, “because he is already deeply venerated in Vietnam and all throughout the Vietnamese community around the world.”
Father Diep was born on Jan. 1, 1897, into a family of Catholics farmers. He was admitted to the Phnom Penh Major Seminary in Cambodia and ordained in 1924.
The priest soon gained a reputation as a courageous preacher of the Gospel, both in words and deeds, Msgr. Pham said. All people, he noted, relied on Father Diep’s corporal acts of mercy.
For example, he helped anyone, including non-Catholics, find food during the Japanese occupation of their land during World War II. That conflict was soon followed by the First Indochina War (1946-1954) in which Communist forces, the so-called Viet Minh, ousted colonial rule by France.
But Father Diep was targeted by Japanese soldiers who defected from their nation and stayed in Vietnam. They wanted revenge on Western forces that defeated Japan.
Since Father Diep reached out to anyone to find help for starving people, including the colonial French, the Japanese expatriates tagged him a “collaborator” with the West.
According to an investigation by Bishop Peter Le Tan Loi of the Diocese of Can Tho, they executed Father Diep by beheading him with swords.
The investigation’s findings reversed earlier assumptions that the priest was murdered by the Viet Minh, who at that time were working on a campaign of solidarity with all people in the struggle against the French.
Still, Msgr. Pham said, Father Diep inspires devotions among people everywhere.
“For example,” he said, “there are people in Mexico who have a huge devotion to him. I went to places in Europe — Norway and Germany — and I found families displaying his image in their homes and praying to him.
“He’s a miracle worker, and his miracles are numerous.”
Msgr. Pham said this priest’s intercession helped extend almighty protection over his father, an officer in the South Vietnamese Army, during five years in a post-conflict prisoner of war camp.
Father Diep’s intercession also protected Msgr. Pham’s older brother, Sonny, who escaped Vietnam at age 13 in 1982 with fellow “boat people.”
Pirates from Thailand robbed him of food and scuttled his boat’s engine, but he eventually reached the U.S. and settled first in Flushing.
The rest of the family followed when Msgr. Pham, the youngest of five children, came to the U.S. through humanitarian programs sponsored by Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens.
Msgr. Pham said he can’t travel to Vietnam for the beautification ceremony because he must remain in Queens for the feast of his parish’s patroness.
However, he plans to travel there before the ceremony, to visit Father Diep’s shrine in Tac Say and gather holy cards and books about him for devotees in Brooklyn and Queens.
A statue of the future saint has already arrived at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Msgr. Pham said.
“But,” he added, “we cannot display his image or statue yet. We’ll wait until after the beatification, when we have a Mass of thanksgiving here on July 12.”