Father Augustine Minh Hai Tran was appointed pastor of St. John Bosco Church in Woodstock effective Feb. 18. He has served at the parish for three years, as parochial vicar and parish administrator.
He came to the parish originally to assist when then-pastor Father Michael J. Dobbins was diagnosed with cancer. He became parochial vicar. When Father Dobbins died in 2020, Father Tran was named administrator.
Father Tran said parishioners welcomed the news of his new appointment by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge.
“I hope our bishop and brother priests and all the people that knew and that come to know me will continue to pray for me,” he said.
He was installed as pastor during Mass March 5 at the church.
Father Tran was born in Vietnam in 1974. He moved with his family to the U.S., living in both Virginia and New York, where he earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Manhattan College in 1998. In 2000, he entered Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md.
He was ordained to the transitional diaconate May 31, 2003, and assigned to Holy Spirit Church in Annandale. He was the first Vietnamese priest ordained for the diocese. He was ordained June 12, 2004, by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.
His assignments include: parochial vicar at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax (2004-06); St. John the Apostle in Leesburg (2006-10); St. Matthew in Spotsylvania (2010-12); St. James in Falls Church (2012-17); Holy Trinity in Gainesville (2017-18); and Precious Blood in Culpeper (2018-20). He was assigned to St. John Bosco in 2020.
