Our new Parish priest Fr Tang will be seen around the parish and school.

We rejoice as a school community that his Ordination (that was thrice post-poned due to COV-id 19 restrictions) went ahead on Sunday 10th October, with Bishop Paul Martin and many Diocesan priests and parishioners in attendance at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral. Fr Tang’s family was “present” through a video projection, linking the Vietnamese community in his hometown to the event.

Deacon Tang said the idea of becoming a priest wasn’t foreign to him but, during his primary and secondary school years, he became more interested in teaching. When he was an IT teacher in Vietnam:

“He (Bishop Vien) studied in Sydney and he came back. He said, ‘New Zealand is in need of vocations. Would you like to come to New Zealand?’ I said, ‘where is New Zealand?’,” he said with a laugh.

Deacon Tang agreed and came to Christchurch in 2012 to complete priestly training.

Deacon Tang said his priority as a priest is to be “a man of prayer, and to focus on the sacraments that we are called to celebrate and administer to the people”.

After these, his next priority would be his pastoral work. “I would love to see the people in the parish, maybe have a chat with them, to share my story or listen to theirs,” he said.

Deacon Tang said he will be a teacher of faith as every priest is called to be.

‘I never thought I was going to New Zealand. But wherever God leads me, then I’ll follow. I’m happy with that. Every priest has to be a teacher, that is the path of my vocation,” he said.

Adapted from;

https://nzcatholic.org.nz/2020/09/18/vocational-path-led-deacon-tang-to-aotearoa/