25th March 2026 – The event was held in the Sala della Conciliazione of the Lateran Palace where, after decades of conflict, the Catholic Church and the Italian State signed the Lateran Treaties in 1929. In this same historic place, in 2013, the diocesan phase of the Cause of Beatification of one of the most important spiritual figures of our time concluded: the Vietnamese Card.François-Xavier Nguyễn Vân Thuân.

220 people were present, Cardinals, Bishops, family members, priests, nuns and lay people from Vietnam and other countries. Thousands more were connected via streaming in seven languages on Vatican Media’s YouTube channels. The reason for this gathering was the occurrence of 50th anniversary since Nguyễn Vân Thuân, then a young Bishop, in the first months of his imprisonment that began on 15th August, 1975, managed to send his faithful 1,001 short meditations written on scraps of old calendars. The event was organized by the Cause of Beatification of the Vietnamese Cardinal, together with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development which is responsible for the Cause, in collaboration with the Dicastery for the Clergy, the Diocese of Rome and Città Nuova Publishing House.

Pope Leo marked the occasion with a Message signed by Card. Parolin, Secretary of State, expressing the hope that “this significant event will foster a renewed appreciation of the fervent witness of such ac courageous disciple of the Gospel and generous Shepherd”. His example – he continued – “is profoundly relevant today because it reminds us that Christian hope is born from an encounter with Christ and takes shape in a life given to God and neighbour”.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Pope’s Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, welcomed the participants. He recalled the relevance of Nguyễn Vân Thuân’s life in the aftermath of the Jubilee of Hope, at a time when the Gospel is transmitted above all through witness.

But who was this Vietnamese Cardinal?
A brief biographical sketch was offered by Dr. Waldery Hilgeman, Postulator for the Cause of Beatification. A descendant of a family that in the nineteenth century included martyrs among its ancestors, from a young age François-Xavier was attracted by the example of the saints and later to contemporary spiritual movements, including the Cursillos and the Focolare. He entered the seminary, became a priest and obtained a doctorate in canon law. In 1967 he was consecrated Bishop of Nha Trang. When Paul VI appointed him Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon in 1975, a long trial began: he was arrested and spent thirteen years in prison, of which nine in solitary confinement. He later recounted that there he learned “to choose God and not the works of God”. He understood that God wanted him to be with the other prisoners, almost all non-Catholic, as a presence of God and of His love, “in hunger, in cold, in hard labour, in humiliation and injustice”. He was released in 1988. He lived in Rome from 1991, where John Paul II appointed him first Vice President and then President of the then Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and in 2001 made him a cardinal.

Elisabeth Nguyễn, the Cardinal’s sister, recounted the remarkable story of the 1001 thoughts. Smuggled out from house arrest, “they began a journey of evangelization from one family to another, from one prison cell to another, before crossing the oceans with the boat people“. Years later, they became the book The Road of Hope.

Powerful and moving experiences, augmented, halfway through the meeting, by a piano piece performed masterfully by Don Carlo Seno: “La Campanella” by Franz Liszt.

Over the course of just an hour and a half, guided by the journalist Alessandro De Carolis of Vatican Media, additional aspects of Nguyễn Vân Thuân’s life emerged. Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, spoke of him as an “evangelizer in every circumstance”, recounting the testimony of a Buddhist monk: “It was winter, it was two degrees below zero and we did not have enough blankets in the re-education camp. The Bishop would go out several times every day to collect branches and pieces of wood to heat the camp at night… He was what we Buddhists call a “Bo tac”: a very holy man. ”

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, recalled how in 1995 a personal friendship was born with Nguyễn Văn Thuận: “I was struck by the fact that, while he recounted painful and even humiliating experiences, his voice remained calm and his face serene. There was no hint of bitterness or hatred in him. I couldn’t take my eyes off his radiant and smiling face. ”

Along with his spiritual stature, his deep concern for global issues of justice and peace emerged. Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development spoke of this. For the occasion, he had published the Italian translation of a new biography of Nguyễn Văn Thuận, written by his sister Elisabeth together with the Belgian priest Stefaan Lecleir.

Card. Czerny explained, “His main contribution at a global level was his role in the development of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004)”. He then referred to a striking question posed by the Vietnamese Archbishop: “Faced with the current political and economic situation, some wonder: will we be able to cross the threshold of the new millennium with hope?” In response, he cited a well-known journalist who predicted “three catastrophic phases” for impoverished societies: exploitation – exclusion – elimination. “When I think of all this,” commented Nguyễn Văn Thuận, “my heart is torn and I would like to shout: ‘impossible’.”

At the end of the event, the actor and journalist Rosario Tronnolone read some passages from The Road of Hope that resound like the golden seal: “You want to carry out a revolution: to renew the world. You will be able to accomplish this precious mission that God has entrusted to you, only through “the power of the Holy Spirit”. Every day, where you live, prepare a new Pentecost. Commit yourself to a campaign that aims to make everyone happy. Sacrifice yourself continually, with Jesus, to bring peace to souls, development and prosperity to peoples. Let this be your spirituality, discreet and concrete at the same time. “

Hubertus Blaumeiser
Photo: © CM – CSC Audiovisivi

Full broadcast on the Vatican Media YouTube channel