Fourteen men start studies at national diocesan seminary

The men range in age from 19 to 33, and they are preparing for eventual ministry across five of the country’s six dioceses.

Of the 14 in the first-year group, eight are from Vietnam, three are from New Zealand and the others are from Samoa, Argentina and the Philippines.

The human formator at the seminary, Fr Thanh Tran, said he is thrilled at the number of seminarians this year.

“For me, being the human formator here, I get to see 14 first year seminarians weekly, one-on-one. It is time-consuming, but it is a wonderful problem.”

Overall, there are 26 men in formation for the priesthood at Holy Cross, with two of these on pastoral placement this year.

Dyester Abo-abo, 33, a seminarian for Wellington Archdiocese, lectured at university and worked as a psychologist in the Philippines before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Being at a Jesuit university, there was a strong sense of discernment there, so the idea of a vocation was present.

“It is like music that is being played so softly that it takes a certain type of listening in order to hear it,” he said.

He spent last year living in the presbytery in Island Bay.

In the seminary, Dyester is “taking it one step at a time”, and is working on discerning what God wants him to do.

The youngest of the first-year group is 19-year-old Jack Fraser-Jones. He is studying for the Hamilton Diocese.

After finishing high school, he spent a year at university doing business studies before entering the seminary.

With so many people feeling discouraged at present, Jack wants to help people get on board with something that can lead in a more positive direction.

In the seminary, he hopes to be able to get closer to God, and to grow spiritually, intellectually and in pastoral and human formation.

When Peter Khoa arrived in New Zealand from Vietnam in 2022, he could not speak any English.

He has spent two years learning the language before entering the seminary to prepare for ministry as a priest of the Auckland Diocese.

Peter, 31, did not know anything about New Zealand when the call came through for him to prepare for ministry as a priest in this country.

Peter, who worked as a graphic designer in his homeland, believed that he had inherited a faith that came to Vietnam through missionaries from places like Portugal and France, so why shouldn’t he follow God’s call to be a priest overseas?

After two weeks of living in the seminary, he is very happy. 

The other first-year seminarians, with the diocese for which they are studying, their age, country of origin and previous occupation, are:

Mateo Andrews, Auckland, 23, Argentina, trainer; Philip Malaitai, Auckland, 27, Samoa, builder; Joseph Marr, Auckland, 26, New Zealand, IT worker; Paul Nguyen, Auckland, 33, Vietnam, teaching assistant; Anthony Nguyen, Auckland, 31, Vietnam, IT worker; Tuan Nguyen, Auckland, 27, Vietnam, farmer; Hung Ha, Hamilton, 27, Vietnam, manufacturing engineer; Sam Turnbull, Hamilton, 26, New Zealand, IT worker; Sy Nguyen, Palmerston North, 23, Vietnam, teacher; Kham Nguyen, Wellington, 26, Vietnam, student; Pho Vo, Christchurch, 30, Vietnam, electrical engineer.

All the seminarians asked for prayers for themselves and their fellow seminarians in their vocational journeys.

FULL STORY

National seminary welcomes 14 first-year students – New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC)