The group of young Catholics in Vietnam came together on a camping trip to pray, study the Gospel, and sleep under the stars. Then the police showed up and hauled the campers away to the station, where they spent the night in a cell under the watch of the authorities. Fear might have been expected. Joy, not so much.
Yet the members of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement were happy, said Hung Hoang, one of the leaders on the trip.
“We knew we were suffering because we were living our faith,” he said in an interview at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in South Philadelphia. “We trusted Jesus would cover us. If they crucified Him, why would they spare me? If I must suffer with Him, that is an honor.”
That night is one of many experiences that shaped Hung, a leader formed by faith and the pillars of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement — prayer, communion, sacrifice, and works of service. It’s a movement he helped build in Vietnam and now helps to grow in the Philadelphia area.
Hung was born into a Catholic family that handed on the faith at personal risk. His father and mother were catechists who taught in secret, hiding children in their home when authorities tried to stop catechism classes. As Hung grew, mentors challenged him to read Scripture “from cover to cover.” He did—both the Old and New Testaments—and the Gospel seized him.
“My core values are the Gospel and God,” he said.
Courage and prayer
Choosing the movement meant choosing consequences. Friends warned that visible leadership in the Youth Movement would harm his chances for higher education.
“They do not like that you influence the youth—it’s not the way the Communist Party wants,” he was told. “Imagine if you go to church but you end up on a government blacklist.”
He felt young and perhaps less aware of what might come, but courage rose with prayer.
“You have to make a leap of faith, which is to choose God or choose to live your life like your friends,” he said. “I chose God. I was like ‘God, I entrust my life to you.’
“God put something inside me. The Gospel changed my life.”
Hung and his family were able to immigrate to the United States in 2013, first to Florida and then to South Philly in 2015. He arrived at age 22 and juggled long hours at a restaurant, longing for the movement he loved but doubting he could lead again because of language barriers.
Providence intervened at lunch hour. Leaders from the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement came into the restaurant wearing the organization’s distinctive scarves.
“It was a reminder I had to go back,” he said. He left the restaurant for a factory job with lower pay but steadier hours. The trade gave him time to serve. “I wanted to return to who I am. That was God’s call.”
Teaching faith; honoring tradition
The Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement centers young people on Jesus in the Eucharist — “the source and summit of life,” as Hung put it—and how it forms them for service.
The movement’s spiritual rhythm, “Living the Eucharist Day,” begins with prayer upon waking and closes with a nightly examination of conscience. Activities include Gospel study, catechesis, and summer camps that look a bit like scouting but with a different heart: skits and challenges are built around Scripture and the sacraments.
In the Philadelphia area there are roughly seven Vietnamese Catholic communities, with four or five currently running active chapters of the movement. Roughly 20 to 50 leaders serve more than 300 children and teens, most between ages 7 and 18.
The vision is simple and bold: equip every Vietnamese Catholic community in the region with a chapter that does more than bring kids to Mass—it helps them understand the Mass. It teaches the Catechism and the Gospel and it models a life of service animated by the presence of Christ.
Hung’s concern reaches beyond youth who are already engaged. He sees a broader drift among all ages toward checking a box on Sunday and moving on.
“If you love someone very much, you want to spend time with that person,” he said. “If you love God, how can you see Him once a week and then rush out?”
For those who cannot receive Holy Communion daily, he urges spiritual communion throughout the day. He describes it as calling on the Lord until peace settles in. “You receive unlimited blessings from the Eucharist,” he said. “Once you know Jesus, you are drawn to Him.”
The movement also helps Vietnamese families hold fast to faith and culture. Vietnamese-language priests are essential, Hung notes, especially for elders who struggle with English. Without Vietnamese Mass, many attend but cannot follow the readings or homily. “It discourages them,” he said. Local chapters bridge those gaps and keep generations praying together.
Nancy Lam, a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, grew up in the movement and now serves alongside Hung as a youth leader. She teaches 5- to 7-year-olds and delights in their wonder when Bible stories come alive. The movement has given her friends, strengthened her Vietnamese identity, and brought her back to regular practice after college.
“Being surrounded by people who care about the faith as much as I do gives me hope,” she said.
A bridge between cultures
She credits Hung with the unglamorous work that keeps chapters going: administration, organizing, training. “He has a family and lives far, yet he continues to be part of this,” Lam said. “He is enthusiastic, hardworking, and thoughtful.”
She also calls him a bridge—fully fluent in Vietnamese and English—who helps elders and American-born youth understand one another. When teens bring hard questions about Church teaching, Hung takes time to explain the history and meaning behind the words.
“That gives me a lot of hope,” Lam said.
Today Hung lives in Upper Chichester with his wife and 2-year-old son and works as an insurance agent. Life in Philadelphia, of course, comes with local quirks. Parking near his church in Upper Darby often turns Sunday schedules into a hunt for a spot.
Snow still delights him; he remembers stepping out of church his first winter and sending a selfie of falling flakes to friends back home.
Football, too, found its way into his heart. He laughs about distant friends who tease, “You live in Philly? You’re an Eagles fan? Are you going to burn down your city?”
The ribbing, of course, only confirms what he already knows—he belongs here.
Hung’s belonging is not merely civic. It is Eucharistic. He once risked arrest to kneel before the Lord. He now spends himself so others can learn to kneel in freedom, not from habit but from love. The work is steady, sometimes hidden, and always hopeful.
“My strength is from God,” he said. “Once people know the faith and know Jesus, they will be drawn to Him. That is the best thing in my life—to be baptized and become Catholic.”
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Faces of Hope is a series of stories and videos highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church of Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region. To learn more about a new way forward for the Church of Philadelphia, visit TrustandHope.org. If you know someone you’d like to see featured, please reach out to editor@catholicphilly.com.
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