St. Vincent Liem Church - Calgary, Alberta - Stained Glass Windows on Waymarking.com

I.  A Dream of Being Together

Every human institution has its history of establishment.  Unlike any other Dominican Vicariates, St. Vincent Liem Vicariate had a different beginning and development.  The Vicariate did not come into existence because of the growth of the Province but was established to gather the Vietnamese Dominicans who for different reasons had been abroad and scattered over many countries outside Vietnam in order to safeguard their Dominican vocation and to support the brothers at home in their difficult time.

The historical event of 1975 forced some Vietnamese Dominicans to escape from their country of birth and to migrate and settle in different countries, such as Argentine, Canada, United States, Australia, and the Philippines.  These Dominicans, together with those Friars who had already studied abroad before 1975 in Europe, America, and the Philippines, formed a group named “Vietnamese Dominicans Oversea”.  In that situation, Fr. Joseph Nguyen Cong Ly, who was at the time a General Master’s Assistant in Rome asked the Master of the Order to allow the Vietnamese Dominicans Oversea to gather and establish a new Vicariate.  After corresponding with and receiving a permit from the Province in Vietnam, Fr. Joseph Nguyen called the Vietnamese Dominicans studying in Europe to a meeting.  It was held in Bologna, Italy from Dec 27-30, 1978 in order to discuss and to find out how to form a new vicariate.  During this meeting, the brothers decided to have a meeting with all the brothers living and working in North America where the majority of Vietnamese Dominicans had settled.  As a result, from August 8th to the 10th in 1979, the Vietnamese Dominicans in Europe came to Houston to attend the historic meeting which drew 12 Friars.  Before going to the meeting, Fr. Dominic Pham van Bao, O.P. who was ministering to the Vietnamese Immigrants in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, talked with Bishop of Calgary about the brothers’ intention to establish a Vicariate for the Vietnamese Dominicans Oversea.  Thus, Bishop Paul O’Byrne wrote a letter dated August 2, 1979 inviting the brothers to come and establish a vicariate in Calgary.  Having read and discussed the letter, all the brothers came to these two following decisions: 1) to establish a Vietnamese Dominican Vicariate in Calgary and 2) to appoint Fr. Nguyen Cong Ly to be their representative to make it happen.

The reason Calgary was chosen to establish a Vicariate was because the Provincials in the States wanted the brothers to join the local Provinces, and that Calgary had few advantages.  There was a very warm welcome and support from the local Ordinary, Alberta had no Dominican presence, and lastly the majority of the brothers had lived in the United States and Canada.  These two countries have the same language and culture, difficulty crossing over the border was minimal as well as a large population of Vietnamese immigrants were living in Alberta.

The brothers delegated Fr. Ly upon returning to Rome to submit their request which the Master of the Order gladly accepted.  Fr. Ly began to speed up the process of establishing a Vicariate in Calgary.  First Fr. Ly wrote a letter to the Canadian Provincial, Fr. Jean Marc Gay, petitioning for the Vicariate’s establishment.  On February 22, 1980, the Canadian Provincial together with his council agreed to let the brothers establish the Vicariate in Alberta for a 10 year period.  Although a letter of approval from the Canadian Province and the Bishop of Calgary had been received, the Master of the Order asked for feedback in the form of a letter from the Provinces that had connection with the Vietnamese brothers: Toulouse, Chile, Argentine, New York, Canada, Oakland, Chicago, Fribourg, the Philippines, Holy Rosary and New Orleans.  All the Provinces except one agreed for the Vietnamese Vicariate to be established in Calgary.  As a result, on the 9th of November, 1980, the Master of the Order signed a letter appointing Fr. Nguyen Cong Ly, O.P. as the Vicar Provincial of St. Vincent Liem Vicariate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

In order to assure the Vicariate’s future, Fr. Ly visited Fr. Jean Marc Gay, the Canadian Provincial in Montreal and asked him to come to Calgary and meet with Bishop Paul O’Byrne of Calgary.  During this meeting Fr. Ly asked the Bishop to let the Vietnamese Dominicans take care of a Canadian Parish in order for the brothers to support themselves and to establish a temporary office of the Vicariate.  On January 31, 1980, Bishop O’Byrne appointed Fr. Dominic Bao, O.P. Pastor of St. Anne Parish and entrusted its pastoral work to the Dominicans.  Two days later Fr. Ly arrived in Calgary from Rome.  While Fr. Ly was in residence at St. Anne’s Church he was appointed as Administrator of the Vietnamese Catholic Community in Calgary.  That was how the first community of the Vicariate came into being.  Soon after the establishment additional brothers gradually came to join the Vicariate in Calgary.