According to Aciprensa, the Vatican has revived the beatification cause of the venerable Vietnamese cardinal Francisco Javier Nguyen Van Thuan, who was imprisoned for 13 years by the communist regime, nine of them in absolute isolation. Half a century after his arrest, the figure of the cardinal emerges strongly as a beacon of hope and forgiveness amid persecution.
The Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints has launched a new website dedicated to promoting his cause and encouraging the faithful to request his intercession. The cardinal’s younger sister, Elisabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, the last of his nine siblings still alive, confirmed in Rome that the process is advancing, although it depends on the approval of a miracle attributed to his intercession.
From Communist Prisons to Rome
Van Thuan was declared venerable in 2017. His life is a testimony of fidelity in times of trial: arrested in 1975 after being appointed coadjutor archbishop of Saigon, he endured reeducation camps, imprisonment, and house arrest. From the cell, clandestinely, he wrote meditations that gave rise to his famous book The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison, translated and read around the world.
Released years later, he was forced into exile and settled in Rome, where he served in the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. In 2001, St. John Paul II created him a cardinal. Shortly afterward, he was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. He died on September 16, 2002, in the Eternal City, leaving behind a spiritual legacy that continues to move the Church today.
The Strength of Faith Amid Persecution
Van Thuan never stopped spiritually accompanying his family, not even in prison. His clandestine letters, written on calendar sheets and secretly delivered by a child, became profound meditations on the cross and Christian hope.
In a 1982 postcard addressed to his parents, he wrote: “I enjoy good health. I pray for you and for my mom every day. This year, our village, Phú Cam, celebrates 300 years of becoming a Catholic village. Let us pray a lot for each other.”
The Path to the Altars
Today, fifty years after his imprisonment, the Church looks again to Van Thuan as an example of strength, charity, and fidelity amid adversity. The Vatican reminds that beatification depends on a recognized miracle. Meanwhile, his testimony remains alive, showing that the true victory of the Christian is to persevere in faith even when the world imprisons him.