Two Vietnamese students
Fr David Dowling
In December 2013, two Vietnamese students for the priesthood arrived in Wellington after being accepted by Archbishop John Dew.
Nien Le, 26 and Minh Nguyen, 27, both feel called to priesthood and are willing to enter formation in New Zealand and be ordained for the Wellington Archdiocese.
Nien and Minh both come from Vietnam’s Vinh Diocese with the blessing of their local bishop. In Vietnam Minh worked on his family farm and Nien studied tourism management.
This year Nien and Minh are studying at a language school in Wellington city to improve their English language skills and are coming to grips with Kiwi culture. Many words and phrases used in everyday language can cause confusion and amusement for Nien and Minh.
For example, someone asking for a ‘doggy bag’ when leaving a restaurant or receiving an invitation to a ‘barbie’, but they are enjoying learning and familiarising themselves with our colloquialisms.
Nien and Minh reside with Fr David Dowling in the Island Bay presbytery and are members of St Francis de Sales parish. When Nien and Minh are proficient in English they will apply for admission to enter Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland They are deeply grateful for the opportunity to come to Wellington and offer themselves in service as future priests of the Archdiocese.
Fr David Dowling is Parish Priest at St Francis de Sales Church, Island Bay.