From war to witness: The vocation story of Fr. Peter Huong Pham, OP.

I was born in Thọ Xuân, Thanh Hóa, in northern Vietnam, during the French-Vietnamese War, also known as the First Indochina War. That war lasted from 1946 to 1954 and ended with the Geneva Accord, which divided Vietnam into North and South along the 17th parallel. The North came under the communist bloc, while the South was supported by the free world.

In 1954, my parents brought our family to the South, choosing the path of freedom. We settled in Tân Thanh Parish, Bảo Lộc, Lâm Đồng. I grew up in the midst of the long war between North and South Vietnam (1955–1975), a painful conflict between brothers of the same nation, divided by ideology.

​I was blessed to study in Catholic schools and to serve for many years as an altar boy. Those years at the altar planted the seed of my vocation. My cousin, a nun with the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Đà Lạt, helped guide me toward the Dominican Order. 

So, in 1963, at just 13 years old, I left for Saigon to enter the Dominican Minor Seminary. At first, I cried almost every day because I missed my parents, siblings, and friends. But young hearts adjust quickly. Soon, I embraced the new life of prayer, study, discipline, and community with over 300 students living and learning together.
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I graduated from high school in 1972 and entered the novitiate in Vũng Tàu. In 1973, I made my first vows and continued my philosophy and theology studies in Thủ Đức. But in 1975, when the communists took over the South, everything changed. Religious houses were closed, properties were confiscated, and we had to continue our formation in secret, at great risk. Those were years of uncertainty. Many Dominican brothers left; some who tried to escape Vietnam by sea or land made it, while others died trying.

In 1980, I, too, left by boat and ended up in the refugee camp in Palawan, the Philippines. Two years later, I was sponsored by the Dominican Vicariate Abroad and resettled in Calgary, Canada. Those first years were tough, studying English, working to support myself, and adjusting to an entirely new culture. But God was with me.

In 1984, Bishop Paul O’Byrne ordained me a deacon, and on July 28, 1985, I was ordained a priest by the same bishop at St. Vincent Liem Church in Calgary. That was one of the happiest days of my life, the fulfillment of my dream.

Later, my superior sent me to Rome to study at the Angelicum. I graduated in 1991 and returned to Canada, where I served in vocations and communications. Then, in 1997, I returned to Vietnam to teach at various institutes for seminarians and religious sisters in Saigon.

Over the years, God continued to call me to different places of service outside of the Diocese of Calgary:

• In 2004, I was assigned as pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Vancouver, Canada.
• In 2010, I served as pastor of Our Lady of La Vang Parish in Richmond, Virginia.
• In 2014, I was appointed pastor of Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Parish in Arlington, Virginia.

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Fr. Peter Huong Pham, OP is currently on sabbatical leave until 2026.