Pope Francis Names New Auxiliary Bishop of Orange

WASHINGTON—PopeFrancis has appointed Father Thanh Thai Nguyen as a new auxiliary bishop in theDiocese of Orange, California. Father Nguyen is a priest of the Diocese of St.Augustine where he currently serves as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Jacksonville,Florida.

The appointment was publicized in Washington on October 6 by Msgr. WalterErbi, Chargé d'Affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature in the United States.

FatherNguyen was born April 7, 1953 in Nha Trang, Vietnam. In 1979, he escapedVietnam by boat with his family and spent 10 months in a refugee camp in thePhilippines before arriving in the United States in 1980.

He holdsa bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Merrimack College, North Andover,Massachusetts and a master of divinity degree from Weston School of Theology,in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Father Nguyen entered the Missionaries ofOur Lady of La Salette in 1984 and served as a priest of that congregation foreight years. He was ordained a priest on May 11, 1991. He wasincardinated in the Diocese of St. Augustine, June 29,1999.

Assignmentsafter ordination include: parochial vicar at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish,Smyrna, Georgia, 1991-1994; parochial vicar, St. Ann Parish, Marietta, Georgia,1994-1996; parochial vicar, Christ the King Parish, Jacksonville, Florida,1996-2001; pastor, Christ the King Parish, Jacksonville, 2001-2014; pastor, St.Joseph Parish, Jacksonville, 2014-present.   

TheDiocese of Orange, California comprises 782 square miles. It has a totalpopulation of 3,145,515 people of which 1,346,540, or 42 percent, areCatholic.

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Keywords: Pope Francis, Reverent Thanh Thai Nguyen, Msgr. Walter Erbi, Apostolic Nunciature, Diocese of Orange, Diocese of St. Augustine.

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