Newly ordained priest Fr Nguyễn Thành Ân SJ with Cardinal Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi SVD, Archbishop of Tokyo, and liturgical ministers
Fr Nguyễn Thành Ân was ordained to the priesthood in St Ignatius Church, Tokyo, by the Archbishop of Tokyo, Cardinal Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi SVD, on the afternoon of 27 September.
Eight of the new priest’s family members came from Vietnam for the ordination: his father, four older brothers (one of whom came with wife and child), and an older sister. One of the older brothers is Jesuit Father Nguyễn Thành Nguyên, who doubled as a representative of the Vietnamese Provincial. Another is a member of the Lasalle Christian Education Brothers, and the other two are engaged in agriculture.
Fr Ân entered the Society of Jesus in Vietnam in 2013 and was missioned to Japan in 2018. After two years of language school, he spent half a year in the Shimonoseki parish and then a year of service in the Sophia Catholic-Jesuit Center. He began his theology study in 2022 and will finish in spring of next year.
The Mass was conducted mainly in Japanese, with the first reading in Vietnamese and with Vietnamese songs sung by a choir of the St Ignatius Church Vietnamese congregation.
Many Jesuits, sisters, and parishioners filled the parish hall for the ensuing social, during which there were some musical numbers and abundant refreshments for all. Some parishioners came all the way from Shimonoseki to receive his first priestly blessing.
