Phat Diem diocese has new bishop

Father Joseph Nguyen Nang was officially ordained as Bishop of the Phat Diem diocese at the Phat Diem Cathedral, Kim Son district, in the northern province of Ninh Binh on September 8.
Earlier on July 25, father Nguyen Nang had been appointed Bishop of the Phat Diem Diocese by Pope Benedict XVI.
Close to 20,000 Catholic followers witnessed the ceremony.
At the event, Chairman of the Episcopal Council of the Catholic Church of Vietnam, Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, congratulated the newly-ordained Bishop Nguyen Nang.
He said that the new bishop of the Phat Diem diocese will make a great contribution to the congregation in Phat Diem in particular and in Vietnam in general.
The 56-year old newly-ordained bishop was former rector of the St. Joseph Major Seminary in Xuan Loc.
He is the 100th ordained Vietnamese bishop. The first, Father Nguyen Ba Tong, was ordained in 1933.