Dominican Father Thomas Aquinas Anh Hoang Nguyen will be the new pastor of Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Church in Arlington effective Aug. 1.
Father Anh Nguyen was born Jan. 1, 1979, in Dong Nai, Vietnam. He was baptized at Nghia My Church in Dong Nai and grew up at Phuong Lam Church in Dong Nai.
He received a bachelor’s in sociology at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2003. He studied philosophy at the Dominican Study Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, 2006-08; completed his pastoral year with the Diocese of Bui Chu in Nam Dinh, Vietnam, 2008-09; and studied theology at the Dominican Study Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, 2009-13.
Father Anh Nguyen was ordained a priest by Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc of the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City at St. Dominic Church in Ho Chi Minh City Aug. 4, 2014.
He was sent to the U.S. in 2015 to study English at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, 2015-17, and Houston Community College in Texas, 2017-18. During this time, he served in pastoral ministry at Our Lady of Lavang Church in Houston. He went on to serve as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Hitchcock, Texas, 2018-19, and Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Phoenix, 2019-present.
