Dominic Mai Thanh Lương | |
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Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Orange Titular Bishop of Cebarades | |
Archdiocese | Los Angeles |
Diocese | Orange |
Appointed | 25 April 2003 |
Installed | 11 June 2003 |
Term ended | 20 December 2015 |
Other post(s) | Titular Bishop of Cebarades |
Orders | |
Ordination | 21 May 1966 |
Consecration | 11 June 2003 by Tod Brown, Alfred Clifton Hughes, and Jaime Soto |
Personal details | |
Born | Đa Minh Mai Thanh Lương 20 December 1940 Minh Cuong, Viet Nam |
Died | 6 December 2017 (aged 76) |
Motto | Jam non estis hospites et advenae (You are strangers and aliens no longer) |
Styles of Dominic Mai Thanh Lương | |
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Reference style | |
Spoken style | Your Excellency |
Religious style | Bishop |
Dominic Mai Thanh Lương (20 December 1940 – 6 December 2017) was a Vietnamese-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange from 2003-15.
Mai Thanh Lương was born near Hanoi on 20 December 1940, the youngest of nine children. [1] His father worked as a real estate notary. [1] He received his early education at a French Vietnamese elementary school, and afterwards attended Holy Family Seminary High School. [2]
In 1954, he left home against his father's wishes to enter a seminary in Saigon. [3]
In 1956, he was sent by the Bishop of Da Nang to continue his studies in the United States, where he enrolled at a diocesan seminary in Buffalo, New York, two years later. [3] He completed his philosophical and theological studies at St. Bernard's Seminary, Rochester, New York. [2]
Luong was ordained to the priesthood on 21 May 1966. [4] Although ordained for the Diocese of Da Nang, the increasing violence of the Vietnam War prevented him from returning to his native country. [2]
He pursued postgraduate studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, where he earned a Master of Science degree in biology and psychology in 1967. [1] He then served as a chaplain at a hospital in Buffalo until 1975, when he became a curate at St. Louis Church, also in Buffalo. [2]
In 1976, Luong was incardinated in the Archdiocese of New Orleans at the invitation of Archbishop Philip Hannan, who assigned him to the spiritual care of Vietnamese refugees in southern Louisiana. [4]
He became an American citizen the following year. [1] He served as director of the Vietnamese Apostolate from 1976–83, and was named pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam Church in New Orleans in 1983. [2]
In addition to his pastoral duties, he became rector of the Vietnamese Martyrs Chapel in 1986 and director of the National Center for the Vietnamese Apostolate in 1989. [2] He was made a monsignor in 1986, and served as a member of the archdiocesan priests' council (1987–92) and dean of New Orleans East (2002–03). [2]
On 25 April 2003, Luong was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange, California, and titular bishop of Cebarades by Pope John Paul II. [4] He received his episcopal consecration on 11 June from Bishop Tod David Brown, with Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes and Bishop Jaime Soto serving as co-consecrators. [4] He selected as his episcopal motto: "You Are Strangers And Aliens No Longer" ( Ephesians 2:19). [5]
Luong has been an outspoken proponent for the rights of Catholics in Vietnam. [6] He was the first native-born Vietnamese Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States. [7]
The Vatican announced that his resignation was accepted on 20 December 2015, his 75th birthday. [8]
Dominic died on 6 December 2017, aged 77 at Saint Joseph Hospital in Orange County, California.[ where?] [9]