Toronto's newest bishop once a vietnam refugee

            Vincent Nguyen has known since he was a little boy, playing the organ in church in his native Vietnam that he has wanted to be a Catholic priest. He knew this path would be hard to follow, for this job was few and far between in his native land of Vietnam. He was always determined to become a priest, but his path to this was long and hard and full of interruptions. He first went through his career as an electrical engineer. "I was good at math and science," Nguyen says, "so I studied electrical engineering." It might seems like an odd path into the priesthood, especially for a man who will become Canada's first bishop of Asian descent tomorrow, but the move was made on the advice of an advisor with the Toronto diocese when Nguyen was still in high school. Nguyen will be an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of Toronto, responsible for Scarborough and the Durham Region. "The idea was that boys aspiring to the priesthood should also explore their other loves, as a way to ensure that those who commit to being a priest are more comfortable with the choice they've made." This is what Nguyen said pertaining to his journey in becoming a priest and gives his advice to others who are following in his footsteps. He believes if you are truly meant to be a priest god will call upon you only after you have done something else that you love. His ordination tomorrow will also mark the first time in some 30 years that Nguyen and his eight siblings have been in one place at the same time. Two of his brothers live in Canada, while the rest of his siblings are still in Vietnam. They've been arriving over the last couple of days. This will mark a dream come true for Nguyen after a hard life of fighting for what he wants.


              I believe that this is a very heart-warming story of a man achieving his lifelong dream after a life of hardship and hard work. Imagine growing up your whole life knowing what you want to be, but realizing how far out of reach that goal is, and how lucky you would have to be to fulfill that goal. This man is a true warrior and was willing to fight for his entire life in order to do what he has always dreamed of doing. He didn't care wither it would take him 5 or 50 years to achieve this goal, he would never give up and he would do anything that needed to be done. We can all learn from this inner strength and determination and learn what it truly means to fight for what you believe in. I also believe this is a great showcase of Canadian multiculturalism. Religion is one of the most sacred things in our world today and for an immigrant to be able to hold such a prestigious position in a Canadian church shows how much immigrants are appreciated and accepted into our everyday lives. This is a great story of self accomplishment and we can all learn from his inner strength.