‘We can save our culture.’ Vietnamese Catholics celebrate 2 decades at Biloxi church
For decades, members of Biloxi’s Catholic Vietnamese community dreamed of having their own church.
They got it in December 2000, dedicating the state’s first (and still only) all-Vietnamese Catholic parish. On Sunday, parishioners at Vietnamese Martyrs Church celebrated the 20th anniversary.
Hundreds gathered at the church on Oak Street, filling a building that has always been a place for much more than worship.
“Our culture, our language, our families, our food and our faith all revolve around the Vietnamese Martyrs Church,” said Andrew Bui, president of the parish council, in remarks at the end of the service.
The congregation also honored the Vietnamese martyrs who collectively serve as the church’s patron saint. In 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Christians who were killed in Vietnam because of their faith from the 17th to the 19th century. Together, they share the feast day of Nov. 24.
The martyrs, 96 Vietnamese Catholics and 21 European missionaries, represent at least 130,000 Vietnamese killed because of their faith across centuries and dynasties. Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party opposed the martyrs’ beatification, and while today religious freedom is technically enshrined in the country’s laws, Catholics say they still face government persecution.
During the service, congregation members carried a box containing relics of about 30 of the Vietnamese Martyrs saints on a flower-covered pallet to the altar. All told, the church now has relics of about 50 of the saints, Bui said.
“We have papers and the seal from the Vatican certifying that these are the real relics, it’s not chicken bones,” Bui said.
Biloxi Diocese Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III attended and delivered the homily. He spoke in English, pausing every few sentences so that another priest could deliver the Vietnamese translation.
All attendees wore face masks, including some emblazoned with the words “Vietnamese Martyrs Church” and others in the colors of the flag of South Vietnam. A post-service lunch was served outside.
Congregation member Anna Tran, 17, said the gathering was bigger than she had expected. Her father, Daniel Hoat Tran, helped found the church 20 years ago.
“I think it’s really important to have this church so we can save our culture,” Tran said. “Our parents grew up with that culture, and being part of this community helped save it.”
‘Everything here belongs to us’
Daniel Hoat Tran and his family fled Haiphong, in northern Vietnam, on a boat a few years after the country was reunited under communist rule. He spent a year in a Hong Kong refugee camp and arrived in Biloxi in 1983 as a teenager. Family members had found jobs in the Coast’s seafood industry, and Hoat Tran attended school and spent his spare time working in seafood factories.
He and other Vietnamese Catholics worshiped at St. Michael Catholic Church, borrowing space to hold their own services and events. Over time, they raised money to buy the land and construct the building. One source of funds was the sale of Vietnamese food, homemade by parishioners, at festivals like Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
“Everybody preparing the food feels the responsibility to help the church and is happy to do it,” parishioner Kinh Ta told the Sun Herald in February 2000.
The new church was dedicated in early 2000. Hoat Tran said it had given the community a place of its own, where they could hold services alongside cultural events and celebrations.
“Everything here belongs to us,” he said. “We fundraised and built the church.”
They also rebuilt the church after it was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina. The flood waters had risen almost 10 feet, filling the sanctuary with mud. But the structure and the church’s stained glass windows survived.
Almost immediately after the storm, services resumed outdoors. The church became a hub for resources and information for the Coast’s Vietnamese community. And parishioners, some still living in FEMA trailers, came every day to clean and restore their building.
New additions, fundraising
Now, the church is growing. The church’s priest, the Rev. John Thang Pham, estimates it serves 1,600 parishioners. They recently built a new parking lot to accommodate the crowds; Father Thang donated $60,000 of his own money to buy the land. They’re constructing a stone grotto for a statue of the Virgin Mary, with materials from Italy and Vietnam, that should be completed within four months, Bui said.
And they’re trying to raise $3 million to purchase more land and build a new community center, Bui said. One key fundraising avenue is the sale of food from Nhà Hàng Hy Vọng (Hope Restaurant), adjacent to the church, after services every Sunday.
“We have whole groups that take turns, each weekend, where we prepare our authentic Vietnamese food,” Bui said. “Everybody pitches in and then will cook it and sell it to raise funds for this big project. So we are very blessed, and we do work very hard.”
Anna Tran is too young to remember the devastation of Katrina. As a child, she attended Sunday school, where lessons included Vietnamese language instruction. Now, a senior in high school, she teaches 10th graders, volunteers at events, and is an altar server.
At first, she participated in church events because her parents expected her to. Now, it’s a part of life she wouldn’t think of changing.
“I always just grew up here,” she said.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 12:47 PM.
