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Former refugee helps other refugees as Salesian priest

Elizabeth A. Elliott | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

Salesians of St. John Bosco Fr. Minh Duc Dang was ordained June 24 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Pelham, N.Y. COURTESY

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This one-time refugee is now serving others fleeing violence and
oppression.

Salesians of St. John Bosco Father Minh Duc Dang, 34, was
ordained with three others June 24 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in
Pelham, N.Y., by Honduras Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga.

Father Minh was born in Vietnam, the second-youngest of Thuy Van
Dang and Tin Thi Do’s nine children. His family escaped from Vietnam by boat
and spent a year in a Philippines refugee camp in 1991.

They made it to the United States in 1992, first living in Urbana,
Ill., for a year before settling in Burke. His parents are parishioners of
Church of the Nativity in Burke and also attend Mass at Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
Church in Arlington.

Father Minh was influenced by his childhood saying it has always
been his dream and hope to work with refugees. “When we were refugees we had a
lot of help from strangers,” he said. An Illinois parish sponsored his family,
provided plane tickets, found them a place to stay and helped his father and
older siblings find work.

Life came full circle for Father Minh last year when he had the
opportunity to work with Iraqi and Iranian refugees in Istanbul, Turkey. “It
was a beautiful experience of being able to serve,” he said. “Last year, with
the help of a translator and volunteers, we were able to run a summer camp for
refugee children and open a youth center for young adults in Istanbul.”

While in Turkey, he learned of the refugees’ plight firsthand.

“I have witnessed and heard stories from the refugees about how
they were persecuted, especially the Christians driven out from Iraq,” he said.
“A majority of them were persecuted because of their faith.” 

The greatest need for refugees now is to know that there is hope
for them to find residency in the United States, Canada, Europe or Australia,
Father Minh said.

He will return to Turkey for about a month after ordination,
before moving on to Alexandria, Egypt. He will work with refugees, learn Arabic,
assist at a Salesian Technical School and teach.

Father Minh celebrated his first Mass June 25 at Nativity, a
homecoming for him. He said former Nativity pastor Father Richard B. Martin, who
died in 2014, was the one he turned to first for advice when he was considering
the priesthood.

Father Minh pronounced a perpetual vow of obedience, poverty and
chastity Aug. 9, 2015. He earned his bachelor’s in theology at Studium
Theologicum Salesianum in Jerusalem in May 2017. 

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