ASTORIA — Father Cuong Pham is a father’s father.
The 50-year-old pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria is a mentor to young priests and works closely with them, offering advice and guidance as they navigate life.
By assuming this leadership role, Father Pham, who was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to the United States in 1990 as a teenager, becomes part of a centuries-old Vietnamese Catholic tradition in which experienced priests actively encourage vocations and act as father figures to younger clergy.
Father Pham’s spiritual family currently consists of six priests serving in parishes across the country, including the two new priests who were ordained June 1. One of the two, Father Randy Nguyen, is a Vietnamese American who grew up at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and was ordained at St. Joseph Cathedral.
The seventh man is a seminarian studying to be a priest and is Father Pham’s “son.”
In recent years, the entire group has met regularly for ordination ceremonies and other events to reunite.
In some cases, young people seek him out and ask him to be their spiritual father, and if he agrees, he makes a formal announcement at the church and introduces the young person as his spiritual son.
As part of Vietnamese tradition, senior monks check in regularly with their younger brethren to check in, listen to their concerns and offer advice and counsel, just as any proud parent would.
Our experienced priests will also provide financial support if needed.
It is not only the younger priest who benefits: older priests also effectively become part of the younger priest’s family, getting to know the priest’s parents and siblings, and taking part in family celebrations like any other relative.
Father Pham was born in 1973 during the Vietnam War in what was then called Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and came to the United States with his family as political refugees in 1990. After returning to Vietnam, he was mentored by a priest in Saigon, now retired but with whom he remains close. In 2001, Father Pham was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
The traditions he follows date back to the 16th century, when Spanish and Portuguese missionaries brought the faith to Vietnam.
“The priest literally becomes a mentor, friend and family member to the young person, inspiring and supporting him throughout the discernment process and beyond. For example, after ordination, a young person who is adopted into a spiritual family becomes part of a family much larger than his own biological family,” he said.
Vietnam has a total population of 98 million, of which 7 million are Catholic, making it the fifth-largest Catholic country in Asia.
Here in the United States, Father Pham’s guidance comes at a time when the Catholic Church is experiencing a decline in priestly vocations.
The number of priests serving in the United States has fallen from 58,909 in 1975 to 34,344 in 2022, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
Archbishop Pham said he believes part of this is because there aren’t enough people actively encouraging young men to consider the priesthood.
“I say, ‘The truth is, look around you. In every parish, there are many people, not just one person. But have they been personally invited?’ This is very important,” he explained.
Father Pham said passion is key: “You have to be very committed, and you have to be passionate about your mission first, because if you’re not passionate about your mission, you’re not going to inspire anyone,” he explained.
“Today, most priests are very busy with many other obligations, and to actively accompany another person in the process of discernment requires spending quality time with that person,” Pham added.
Rev. Pham is careful not to take on too heavy a burden when it comes to leadership: he limits his fatherly responsibilities to a few people for fear of spreading himself too thin.
Though he limits the number of sons he has, he doesn’t hesitate to reach out to help others.
Under his guidance, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has gained a reputation for welcoming seminarians from all over the country who come to Astoria to soak up his wisdom before returning to seminary.
Archbishop Pham cites Jesus as the reason he works to increase vocations: “When people ask me, ‘Why are you so passionate about vocations?’ I answer, because without priests there is no Holy Communion,” he explained.
