Priest killed in the confessional in Vietnam

A forty-one-year-old Dominican priest was killed while listening to confession in the diocese of Kon Tum on January 29.

Catholics in Dak Mót parish, Kon Tum City, Vietnam, and the Dominican Province in Vietnam are mourning for the sudden death of Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh (Trần Ngọc Thanh), O.P. who was newly installed as a priest-in-charge to take care of this small flock.

The sad incident occurred while Father Trần Ngọc Thanh was in confessional before the Holy Mass on Saturday, January 29, particularly in preparation for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

Father Joseph Thanh was attacked and killed by an unidentified man.

A Dominican brother was stabbed and injured when he tried to stop the assailant. People present in the church were in a state of shock to witness the sudden attack in the premises.

Father Joseph Thanh could not recover and passed away at 11:30 pm on the same day.  

Local police arrested the assailant, who is considered a person with “mental illness.”

Bishop Aloisio Nguyen Hung Vi (Nguyễn Hùng Vị)  of Kon Tum Diocese celebrated a mass and expressed to Dak Mót parish and the Dominican Province of Vietnam, on Sunday, January 30 at Plei Don Chapel, Kon Rơbang parish.

Father Joseph Thanh’s corpse was brought to Saint Martin Priory, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, for his funeral mass on Monday, January 31. The priest’s body was laid to rest among other friars in the Cemetery of the Province, located at this Priory.

Fr. Joseph Thanh, O.P. was born on August 10, 1981, at Saigon and made the religious profession on August 13, 2010. He was ordained a priest on August 4, 2018.

With inputs from Thế Trần