Vietnamese Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung dead at 89
February 23, 2009
Vietnamese Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, the retired Archbishop of Hanoi, died on Sunday, February 22, at the age of 89. Ordained at the age of 30-- after his seminary studies were interrupted by the Communist takeover of Vietnam-- he remained in Hanoi after the partition of Vietnam, and became Bishop of Bac Ninh in 1963, then Archbishop of Hanoi in 1994. Raised to the College of Cardinals in 1994 by Pope John Paul II, he remained in that post-- largely because of the Vietnamese government's delays in allowing the appointment of a successor-- until his retirement in 2005 at the age of 85. Pope Benedict, in a message to the Vietnamese archdiocese, praised the deceased prelate as an "eminent pastor who, through difficult circumstances, was able to serve the Church with great courage and generous loyalty to the See of Peter, tirelessly dedicating himself to the announcement of the Gospel."
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Further information:
- Former Hanoi Archbishop Paul Joseph Cardinal Phan Dinh Tung dies (AsiaNews)
- Telegram for the death of Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung (VIS)
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