John-Nhan Tran

Trần Văn Nhàn was born in Vietnam on February 6, 1966,[2] in the middle of the Vietnam War. His mother died in 1968, when she was mistaken for a Communist and shot, and his older brother was killed by a land mine.[3] His family left South Vietnam as boat people when he was nine years old, eventually settling in New Orleans, Louisiana, after being rescued by an American ship.[3][2]

Despite the poverty of his immigrant family, Tran attended a boarding school run by the Salesians of Don Bosco in Goshen, New York for high school.[3] In 1989, he received a bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, and in 1992 completed his theological studies at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Tran was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1992. for the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Francis B. Schulte.[4]

After his ordination, Tran served as a vicar and pastor in various parishes throughout the archdiocese. His first assignment as a vicar was at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Violet, Louisiana from 1992 to 1995, his first pastorate was at St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Arabi, Louisiana. from 2001 to 2003. He served as pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Mandeville, Louisiana since 2014 before being appointed a bishop.[5]

He was a chaplain for the Saint Bernard[Note 1] parish sheriff's office at the time of Hurricane Katrina, and celebrated Mass for essential personnel and in parking lots and nursing homes in the wake of the disaster.[3]

Tran additionally served on the priest personnel board and presbyteral council for the Archdiocese and is a Knight of Columbus, in addition to ministering to the local Vietnamese community, as he is fluent in Vietnamese as well as English.[6][5]

Tran was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and titular bishop of Tullia by Pope Francis on October 25, 2022 [2] and consecrated to the episcopacy by Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer on January 23, 2023. [6]