Fr. Hoa Tran

My name is Fr. Hoa Tran, and I was born on December 15, 1982 in a rural country of the north of Viet Nam. I came from a poor family with 4 other siblings.  I am the third of the five children in my family.  My parents have strong faith in God and taught us how to live a christian life. Although my mother was very busy with the five of us, but she was a devout woman in my village. My mother was a catechist and a conductor of our church choir for more than 30 years. Every year she  taught the children in our village to perform a dance and offer flowers in veneration of Mother Mary in May. However, my mother was suffering from cancer and passed away 12 years  ago. Currently, my father and other siblings are all still living in Vietnam, and I am here in this country just by myself.

At the age of 11, I started discerning to become a priest to serve God and His people.  My vocation is strengthened over time with the help and encouragement of my family, my spiritual father, and other people.  By the love of God, I was fortunate and forever gratitude for the generosity and kindness of Diocese of Orange that I was sponsored to study here in the United States. I am grateful to Archbishop Joseph Kiet Quang Ngo, a former Archbishop of Hanoi, who sent me here to study. I am also grateful to the kindness of Bishop Todd Brown who sponsored me to study in the United States, and to Bishop Kevin Vann who accepted me into the Diocese of Orange.

Since I came to the United States, I studied 3 years of pre-theology at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and 5 years of Theology at Saint John Seminary. I was ordained priest by Bishop Kevin Vann for the Diocese of Orange on June 10, 2017. I am very excited and happy to be assigned to this parish, and I am also looking forward to meet all of you and get to know all the different activities that we have in this parish. I am a newly ordained priest, so I humbly ask for your prayers and supports from all of you, and please help me to serve you well. I always give thanks to God for many blessings especially my priesthood vocation that God have given me. In return, I will try my best to be a good priest to serve God and His people.