A LEAP OF FAITH: MONSIGNOR MAI THANH LUONG

s I listened to him over the phone, the youthfulness of his voice and the buoyancy of his laughter surprised me. Perhaps I had expected a more somber and formal persona to emerge from this 60 year-old Vietnamese American Catholic priest, who was granted the honor of being made Monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Contrary to the formality I had expected, during the next two hours of our conversation, Father Mai Thanh Luong warmly and humbly shared with me a captivating collage of his life experiences. We discussed the details of his education and professional background: how he was born in a predominantly Catholic-inhabited village, Bui Chu, located in a northern province of Vietnam (which has since then been renamed by the Communists as Ha Han Ninh); how he completed Minor Seminary in Northern Viet Nam; how he went abroad and attended college at Diocesan Seminary in Buffalo, New York; how he studied Theology at St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester and was ordained in 1966; how he obtained two Master Degrees -- on in biology and the other in psychology; and how he returned to his alma mater, Diocesan Seminary and became a Professor of Biology. Father Luong's list of accomplishments and titles could continue on and on. Yet, as impressive as his endeavors are, there is so much more that lies at the essence, the spirit, of this individual. Father Luong relayed many other life stories to me that brought me closer to his fundamental being. They are stories filled with such color and clarity that I was moved to travel with him through the memory etchings of his mind -- stories that interwove different countries, cultures, languages, and realities.

Father Luong's experiences with the Vietnamese American immigrant community in 1975 and subsequent generations to come are similar to raising a child in a constantly changing society. As a parent, you want to give your children universal survival skills adaptive to any environment, but you also want them to carry skills that will preserve their own integrity and unique sense of self despite of the ever changing world. Thus, in order to achieve these skills and move forward in a positive direction, Father Luong found himself reinventing the language of his own life and that of others. In this context, "language" is a term that encompasses not only a linguistic component but also a dialogue component. Such a goal involved learning many new "languages" by newly immigrated Vietnamese American community members, so that they could better the quality of their lives while maintaining their unique cultural heritage. No matter what "language" Father Luong has voiced throughout his life, he demonstrated a natural capacity to love and care for people. Father Luong's spiritual life has been to love with his whole being, and it is evident through the wide-angle lens that captures a snapshot of his life endeavors. To know Father Luong and his life endeavors is to want to sing, to laugh and to pray out loud with him as well.

Language of Linguistics

Father Luong was a young priest early in his career when the Vietnam War drew to a close in 1975. Very anxious to return to his homeland to help out his people, Father Luong started his journey back to Viet Nam on April 25, 1975. Unfortunately, it was too late to complete that journey—no more planes were allowed to land anywhere in the country. Instead, Father Luong requested to be dropped off at a refugee camp in Guam. He did not know what lay ahead nor how he would reconcile the fact that he could really cot communicate well in Vietnamese anymore. With very little grasp on what could occur, he entered the refugee camp at Guam. Amongst the swarm of people, Father Luong locked his eyes upon a figure at a distance. The person was his own mother. Never, in his wildest imagination, did he fathom such a reunion. This surreal encounter, on that April day in 1975, provided Father Luong with a sense of hope and comfort. It was a source of strength that would persevere for years to come as Father Luong brought hope and comfort to the lives of countless Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S.

Father Luong's experiences at the Guam refugee camp and later at the refugee camp in Camp Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, were pivotal moments in his life. The "language" of Father Luong's life was transitioning again just as it had when he was 16 and migrating over to the United States. This was a very crucial transition period for him in terms of "reinventing his language of living" in order to effectively assist the newly immigrated Vietnamese.

"By 1975, I had been in the U.S. almost 20 years. I had come over when I was so young... of course I was nervous and scared! I was just 35 years old, a young priest, very idealistic and goal-directed... you want people to follow your footsteps as you set yourself as a good example for them. You want noble goals -- the best you can be. I t was a pride, a wanting to be 'helpful' I guess... I still had the Vietnamese heart, but my speech betrayed me... I had forgotten most of my Vietnamese language skills and had to begin to "un-Americanize" myself. I was somewhat confused but was determined to return to my Vietnamese roots and relearn my Vietnamese language... all I had going for me was Faith and a sincere wish to help out my people."

Father Luong had to learn to feel comfortable and to be proficient in another language and culture again—just as he would encourage many other Vietnamese American immigrants to do over time when they come to the United States. He had this to say about his language re-learning experience:

"My inability to converse well in Vietnamese annoyed me a great deal at first. I often spoke a mixture of English and Vietnamese and tried to cover that idiosyncrasy by convincing the Vietnamese immigrants around me that this was a fast way of learning English for them. For me, this just gave me further incentive and determination to relearn Vietnamese. Surprisingly, in six months, I could speak it quite fluently again."

Speaking with him today, you would never detect any lapse in his Vietnamese language proficiency years ago. Father Luong's clear and pleasant tone of voice resonates complete fluency and mastery of both Vietnamese and English. He can shift between both languages in conversation with ease. The emphasis he puts on the Vietnamese immigrant community learning English is very apparent in his numerous activities with the community starting in 1975. He began advocating very strongly the mastery of English before the Vietnamese refugees even arrived in the US. During his time of work in the refugee resettlement camps, he coordinated with American military staff to air on a radio station in the camps "survival" English lessons 12 hours a day for the Vietnamese refugees. He even raised a few thousand dollars from staff donations to sustain that radio language program until the camps closed. Years later, at his Vietnamese parish in New Orleans, he started conducting some services in English even when immigrants first arrived to encourage the parish to learn English and to keep youth interested Catholicism. (He predicted that, over time, younger generations might not know Vietnamese as well anymore and they would be more receptive to English language services and church activities). According to Father Luong, he saw no other practical option but for the Vietnamese American community to become at least somewhat proficient with the spoken language of their news environment. He admitted, however, that his idea/vision met with opposition and misunderstanding from some members of the community at first. By supporting the learning of English, he did not intend to disrespect or eradicate the Vietnamese language and culture, as some community members misunderstood.

On the contrary, Father Luong is a very dedicated advocate for the education of youth -- especially in learning both English and Vietnamese. To him, gaining proficiency in both languages was a powerful tool to empower youth for advancement in society. In accordance to his dedication to education, in 1986 Father Luong started a non-profit organization called the Non-Profit Education Foundation of Louisiana. It still exists today with staff numbering approximately 60-70 dedicated individuals. The mission of the organization is to encourage others to do the same. The organization helped to create the first (if not the only) education system in the country that allows high school students to take Vietnamese as a foreign language and get credit. Father Luong's organization assists the school systems by providing Vietnamese language teachers to the high schools. Father Luong also continues to work with Tulane University by administering Vietnamese language proficiency tests for its students. Many students who benefited from the Foundation's tutelage have returned to volunteer and help the organization.

Language of Political Persuasion

The United States Catholic Conference (USCC) sponsored approximately 3,000 refugees directly from Father Luong's former place of work in Fort Chaffee, to his current working base in New Orleans. Many refugee families that came to New Orleans were Catholic and/or from the fishing community back in Viet Nam. Over the past two decades, Father Luong was directly sponsored over 15,000 refugees to New Orleans via USCC. During this time, he was especially interested and concerned with the plight of unaccompanied minors who had no home or sponsor. Because he was the Director of the Apostate, he was able to sponsor over about 150 minors. He and the Church gave these minors shelter and helped them find homes and sponsor families. Now, Father Luong told me, all those minors that he assisted over the years have all grown up and now live all over the United States. Many are very successful in their own right. The fatherly pride in his voice was very obvious. He has cared for and loved all of these young people over the years as if they were his own children.

Father Luong's extreme concern and advocacy for the many refugees who risked their own lives to escape a Communist country and come to a democratic one was also very evident during the height of the boat people controversy. He was not shy to come from behind the pulpit to write to the UN high Commissioner of Refugees, heads of states, kings, and leaders of various religious communities to appeal to their humanitarian side to intercede for the Vietnamese boat people who could suffer from physical abuses and violations of their basic rights had they been repatriated or if they continued to be delayed from resettlement. Father Luong's advocacy were not mere words, either, but turned into political action. He and others eventually signed the document of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Private Sponsorship with the U.S. Department of State. This agreement authorized private sectors (i.e. religious and business) to have permission to sponsor certain refugees that had been classified in the "overstayed" category. Father Luong collaborated with several NGO groups to recruit Vietnamese American volunteers to work in to Palawan Refugee Camp in the Philippines.

Father Luong had this to say about his advocacy efforts with the refugee/boat people population as well as other experiences with the community over the years: "I do not call nor think of myself a social activist, but I do embrace the holistic view of man. Therefore, social and political dimensions are at times very important for the welfare of everyone."