Pope appoints coadjutor Bishop in Vietnam's Bà Rịa Diocese

( Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday appointed a coadjutor bishop to the Diocese of Bà Rịa in southern Vietnam.  Fr. Emmanuel Nguyễn Hồng Sơn is the new coadjutor bishop of Bà Rịa, with the right to succession when the current bishop retires, dies or steps down for various reasons. 

Born on Jan. 2, 1952, in Đồng Nai, Fr. Son went through his priestly training from 1961 to 1971 in the minor seminary of Saigon and from ’71 to ’77 at St. Pius X Pontifical College in Da Lat.  After his ordination on Dec. 31, 1980, Fr. Sơn he was parish priest in Bình Sơn from’81 to ’91 and in Phuoc Le from ’91 to 2001.  From ’94 to ‘2001 he also was the dean of the Vicariate Forane of  Bà Rịa.  Fr. Sơn then studied dogmatic theology 2001 to 2006, obtaining a licentiate from the Catholic Institute of Paris, France.  With the creation of the Diocese of Bà Rịa, Fr. Sơn was incardinated into the new diocese.  From 2006 onwards he has been rector of the Minor Seminary of St. Thomas Bà Rịa Diocese.  In 2011 Fr. Sơn became the Vicar general of the diocese.

Bà Rịa Diocese, a suffragan of Ho Chi Minh Archdiocese, has some 254 thousand Catholics out of a total population of over 1.4 million, spread across 84 parishes and served by 172 priests, nearly 800 religious.