​Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, appointed Rector of Assumption Seminary

Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, appointed Rector of Assumption Seminary

The Society of St. Sulpice and the Archdiocese of San Antonio have announced the appointment of Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, as Rector of Assumption Seminary, beginning July 1.

This follows the resignation of Father Jaime Robledo, PSS, due to health issues. Father Robledo has been granted a one-year medical leave by the Sulpician Provincial Council.

“We want to acknowledge the good work that Father Robledo did this past year,” stated Very Rev. John Kemper, PSS, Provincial Superior. “He made a great contribution to Assumption Seminary by giving a structure and framework to the formation process.”

The new Rector, Father Hy, is currently serving as Vice-Rector, Dean of Men, and Director of Extern Spiritual Directors at Theology College at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. However, he is no stranger to Assumption Seminary. He served there for three years, from 2012 to 2014, as faculty mentor and Dean of Men as well as Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at Oblate School of Theology.

A native of Danang, Vietnam, Father Hy has been a member of the Society of St. Sulpice since 2000, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Oakland, California, on June 14, 1997.

He received an M. Div. and master’s degree in Theology from St. Patrick’s Seminary in San Francisco, his doctorate in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and taught for six years at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore.

Following his time at Assumption Seminary, he joined the faculty of Theological College, assuming the responsibilities of Dean of Men and Associate Director of Intellectual Formation in 2015. In addition to his formation responsibilities at Theological College, he teaches Foundations of Catholicism at The Catholic University of America.

As a native of Vietnam, Father Hy has contributed significantly to the faith formation and growth of the Vietnamese community living in the United States and in Vietnam.

He has been chair of the Theological Committee of the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics in the United States since 2006, lectured widely to the Vietnamese community in America, has published numerous writings in several Vietnamese journals in the United States and in Vietnam, and regularly conducted retreats and workshops for Vietnamese clergy and laity. He edited, in Vietnamese, the book Marriage and Family (published in spring 2015).

He has also lectured regularly at many Catholic gatherings, including the Los Angeles Congress, Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the Faith Formation Conference of the Bay Area.

He is a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and a member of the Federation of Seminary Spiritual Directors. In addition, Father Hy was an advisor to the Cultural Ethnic Board of the Diocese of Oakland.

Since 2002, he has been hosting the half-hour live talk-show radio program “Learning Our Catholic Faith,” which is broadcast once a month by more than 40 different stations in the U.S., including in California, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Virginia. It has also aired in Australia. In addition, the priest was featured on a DVD set, “Introduction to Theology of the Church,” produced and distributed by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Los Angeles.

Father Hy served as an interpreter for Vietnamese attending the World Family Conference in Philadelphia in September 2015 and was a speaker at the Convocation of Vietnamese Priests of the United States in October 2015.

“We are truly grateful to Father Robledo for his hard work at Assumption Seminary – especially the beautification of the campus — and wish him well, and we look forward to welcoming Father Hy back to San Antonio as he assumes leadership at Assumption Seminary,” said Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS.