By Eric Martin
For Vietnamese priest Father Huynh Quoc Nhan, taking the bold step of starting a new life in Perth has been both an answer to prayer and a genuine journey of faith: moving from the fast-paced life of the 15th most populous country in the world, to the sunny South-West of Australia.
“Honestly, coming to Australia was my dream when I was a student in high school,” Fr Huynh shared with The Record.
“I always tell myself and pray: ‘O God, I thank you so much for all the blessings that you have given to me during my journey of faith and in my pastoral ministry as a Catholic priest in Perth’.
“However, it’s a coincidence really that I’m here in Perth now, because I never thought that I would have such a great opportunity to live and practice my pastoral ministry in Australia.
“Personally, I have had an excellent opportunity to immerse myself in the experiences of Jesus’ disciples who went away to their own villages for the mission that Jesus left them,” Fr Huynh said.
“I have recognised that everything in my Good Shepherd Parish is so good for me: this is the first time I have experienced pastoral ministry as a priest; and the Good Shepherd Parish is the first parish where I have officially experienced that priesthood.
“I love everything in my present parish and I especially love all my parishioners and my parish priest. They are all so good and I think that they are all great gifts that God has given to me,” he expressed.
“I want to help my parishioners much, much more… not only perform the sacraments…. but also accompany them in their journey of faith, so that I may help them to recognise the loving presence of God in all circumstances of their lives, especially in their suffering and in the challenges that they are facing.
“I always try my best to give the best things to all my parishioners because, as I think you can see, my English is still not really good enough at the moment.”
Fr Huynh also shared the pain of separation from family that accompanies such a move overseas, but related that such challenges can be dealt with spiritually and emotionally through faith.
“As a man with a human nature, I always think of the peoples and the place where I was born: I think of my family, especially my loving, older parents,” Fr Huynh said.
“However, I always keep a remembrance of them in a very different way.
“For instance, if you ask me: do you miss your family? I will definitely tell you that I miss my family.
“However, if you ask me: have you gotten homesick far? I will surely tell you that, ‘No… not really….’ because I always have a consistent awareness that I am a priest, a follower of Jesus Christ who is my Lord and Master,” he said.
“When I decided to follow my vocation as a priest, I promised myself that I would always try to act in obedience to God’s will. And as a result, I am always able to accept the plans that God has for me in sincere happiness, including my priestly ministry in our Archdiocese of Perth.
“Personally speaking, since I said ‘yes’ to my Vietnamese bishop about experiencing my priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Perth, I have thought of this beautiful country, Australia, as my second native place – I have considered this country as my dear ‘family’.
Vietnam, or the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, stands out in Australian collective memory as the place where young soldiers fought a desperate battle against the Viet Cong, alongside their American allies in one of the longest running military engagements of modern history (some 30 years).
Though still afflicted with poverty and a lack of social infrastructure, the country has stepped boldly onto the world stage and into the 21st century thanks to a series of economic reforms, first instituted in the mid-1980s and successfully built on in recent years by the socialist government.
Vietnam has consistently been one of the fastest growing economies in South-East Asia.
Unsurprisingly for a country with communist origins, 74 per cent of Vietnam’s population does not believe in God, yet the 6.8 per cent of Catholics who do, contribute an ever increasing number of priests to the Australian mission field.