By Mary Gorski
HOUSTON, Tex. – On Aug. 15, Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson, ordained two members of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) at Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Houston: Father Hung Pham, SCJ, and Father Long Nguyen, SCJ.
Father Hung did his deacon internship with the Dehonians’ pastoral team in northern Mississippi; he will continue to serve there in his first priestly assignment.
Both of the newly ordained priests have ties to the Houston area. For Father Hung, 39, it was a homecoming: Vietnamese Martyrs has been his parish since arriving in the United States from Vietnam in 2008. “I was an usher and catechist for four years here before entering religious formation,” he said. “My parents have been members of the parish since their arrival in the United States in 2024.”
Before entering SCJ candidacy, Father Hung earned a degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston and worked at the ALS Oil and Gas Company as a Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) analyst.
He professed his first vows with the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 2020 and his final vows in 2025. Last December, he graduated from Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, and was ordained to the diaconate. For the past seven months he has been serving with the Dehonians’ pastoral team in northern Mississippi, within the Diocese of Jackson.
Originally from Thibodaux, Louisiana, Father Long, 47, comes to the priesthood after nearly 20 years of religious life as an SCJ brother. He has served in pastoral ministry in South Dakota, Mississippi and Wisconsin. He also assisted with the English and Culture Studies Program at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. After completing a year-long CPE program (Clinical Pastoral Education) through Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee, he entered his current ministry as a hospital chaplain in the Milwaukee area.
It was in his ministry as a chaplain that his call to ordained ministry grew. “I enjoy sharing prayer space with others,” he said. “Chaplaincy is one way of sharing that space, a space that can take many forms. I remind people that tears, anguish and frustrations are prayers too.”
In his homily during the Ordination Mass, Father Vien Nguyen, SCJ, provincial superior of the US Province, shared words of advice that he had collected from fellow Dehonians, friends and family members. He closed the homily with his own advice for the newly ordained:
“Stay close to Christ, close to the people, close to your religious community, and close to the Spirit. If you do, your priesthood will become a real sign of the love of the Sacred Heart and a faithful witness to our Dehonian vocation.”
The Priests of the Sacred Heart, also known as “Dehonians,” after their founder, Father Leo John Dehon, or “SCJ” for their initials, is an international Roman Catholic religious order of priests and brothers based in Rome. The order has a presence in over 40 countries; its headquarters in the United States is in Hales Corners, as is one of its largest ministries in the country: Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology.
In Mississippi, Dehonians have responsibility for the Church’s ministry in five northwest counties of the state. Through Sacred Heart Southern Missions, Dehonians offer social services and emergency aid, advocacy, housing, education, job training and counseling. The Sacred Heart Auto League is also a part of SHSM ministry.
(Photos from the Ordination Mass are available at the following link: https://scjusa.smugmug.com/Ordination-of-Frs-Long-Nguyen-SCJ-and-Hung-Pham-SCJ)