Vietnam celebrates its first 20th-century blessed

On 2 July, over 70,000 faithful are expected at the Tac Say shrine for the beatification of Fr Truong Buu Diep, who was killed in 1946 by militiamen recruited by the Viet Minh for refusing to abandon his community. Cardinal Tagle is expected to preside over the ceremony as Pope Leo’s special envoy. 

Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Church in Vietnam is set to mark a very important day in its history this week: on Thursday 2 July 2026, at the Tac Say shrine in the Diocese of Can Tho in the Mekong Delta, the beatification ceremony for Fr François-Xavier Truong Buu Diep (1897–1946) is scheduled to take place. In a Church deeply marked by the witness of its martyrs, Fr Diep will be the first of the many Vietnamese priests who, in the 20th century, paid for their fidelity to the Gospel with the gift of their very lives to be proclaimed blessed. The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, in his capacity as special envoy of Pope Leo XIV, whose visit to Vietnam represents a highly significant event also for relations between Hanoi and the Holy See.

More than 70,000 faithful are expected to attend the ceremony: for this reason, an area of around five hectares has been set up in front of the Tac Say shrine, equipped with marquees, large screens, sound systems, toilet facilities and first-aid points. To mark the beatification, a new portrait and a statue of the future Blessed have been unveiled. The shrine has also opened a library and a memorial hall dedicated to the priest’s life.

Father François-Xavier Truong Buu Diep was born on 1 January 1897 in An Giang province. Ordained a priest in 1924, he carried out his ministry in the countryside of the Mekong Delta and helped to found several parishes in Vietnam and Cambodia. He is remembered for his care for the poor and for the protection he offered to Catholics during the Indochina War: despite the danger and the pleas from the faithful for him to seek safety, he refused to abandon his community. “My life and my death are for my flock. The shepherd must remain where the flock is,” he told them.

In March 1946, during a raid by Vietnamese communist forces, Father Diep volunteered to sacrifice his own life to save that of some 70 parishioners who had been arrested alongside him because of their faith. He was tortured and killed by Japanese deserters who had joined Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh. His mutilated body was thrown into a pond. His martyrdom was officially recognised by Pope Francis on 25 November 2024.

Father Diep’s fame extends beyond the Catholic community itself. The UcaNews agency has gathered the testimony of Hong Quang Hoi, a Buddhist bricklayer who will be present at the beatification. It will be his way of thanking the priest for two graces he received following a pilgrimage to the shrine: finding work after losing his job in 2020, and surviving a serious fall on a building site in 2021.

Among those who held Father Diep in special esteem was the Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, Archbishop Emeritus of Ho Chi Minh City, who passed away on 22 March. The cardinal had had the opportunity to meet him personally as a child. A few years ago – speaking to AsiaNews – he remembered him as “a holy priest, always concerned for the future of the Church and ready to encourage the faithful to commit themselves wholeheartedly to their faith”. Wherever he went, the cardinal continued, “he was committed to building places of worship and homes for the faithful. He lived and died for them”.

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• Ecclesia in Asia
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