Dominic Mai Thanh Lương

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.

The Vatican announced that his resignation was accepted on 20 December 2015, his 75th birthday.[7]

Dominic died on 6 December 2017, aged 77 at Saint Joseph Hospital in Orange County, California.[8]

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• Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange Official Site