Society of the Divine Word marks 125 years of ministry in North America
October 21, 2020 at 5:06 p.m.
"I was naive and innocent," he told Catholic News Service.
Before long, he was able to begin seminary studies with the Society of the Divine Word, later becoming ordained in 1992.
Today, at 59, he's the provincial superior of the society's Chicago province and helping other young men become missionaries to the world.
Father Dinh's story is one that illustrates the missionary outreach work of the society: to bring the good news of Jesus to others, especially poor and marginalized people, as envisioned by its founder in Steyl, Holland, St. Arnold Janssen, who was canonized in 2003.
The Society of the Divine Word observed its 125th anniversary of the arrival of its first member in the United States Oct. 15. To mark the milestone, the society unveiled an online exhibit at https://scalar.usc.edu/works/svd125/index.
It takes viewers through the history of the order's evolution from one man, Brother Wendelin Meyer – who volunteered to travel to the U.S. in the missionary spirit – through the most recent years that find priests of the order's three U.S. provinces ministering in poor and marginalized communities around the world.
Titled "Empowered by the Word," the exhibit recaps hallmark moments in the society's U.S. ministries: the opening of a technical school for orphans in Techny, Illinois, outside of Chicago; the founding of the first seminary to train African American men who wished to become priests and brothers in Mississippi; and the broadening of outreach to marginalized communities in Appalachia beginning in the 1970s, which continues today.
"We serve the poor, minorities and marginalized people," Father Dinh said.
The Vietnamese priest is a portrait of the multicultural spirit of the society. He is one of about 90 Vietnamese Divine Word priests trained in the U.S. He heads a province of more than 200 priests and brothers of 30 nationalities who serve in parishes in parts of Canada, the United States and several Caribbean island nations. Priests of the society's Western and Southern U.S. provinces also serve widely.
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"I was naive and innocent," he told Catholic News Service.
Before long, he was able to begin seminary studies with the Society of the Divine Word, later becoming ordained in 1992.
Today, at 59, he's the provincial superior of the society's Chicago province and helping other young men become missionaries to the world.
Father Dinh's story is one that illustrates the missionary outreach work of the society: to bring the good news of Jesus to others, especially poor and marginalized people, as envisioned by its founder in Steyl, Holland, St. Arnold Janssen, who was canonized in 2003.
The Society of the Divine Word observed its 125th anniversary of the arrival of its first member in the United States Oct. 15. To mark the milestone, the society unveiled an online exhibit at https://scalar.usc.edu/works/svd125/index.
It takes viewers through the history of the order's evolution from one man, Brother Wendelin Meyer – who volunteered to travel to the U.S. in the missionary spirit – through the most recent years that find priests of the order's three U.S. provinces ministering in poor and marginalized communities around the world.
Titled "Empowered by the Word," the exhibit recaps hallmark moments in the society's U.S. ministries: the opening of a technical school for orphans in Techny, Illinois, outside of Chicago; the founding of the first seminary to train African American men who wished to become priests and brothers in Mississippi; and the broadening of outreach to marginalized communities in Appalachia beginning in the 1970s, which continues today.
"We serve the poor, minorities and marginalized people," Father Dinh said.
The Vietnamese priest is a portrait of the multicultural spirit of the society. He is one of about 90 Vietnamese Divine Word priests trained in the U.S. He heads a province of more than 200 priests and brothers of 30 nationalities who serve in parishes in parts of Canada, the United States and several Caribbean island nations. Priests of the society's Western and Southern U.S. provinces also serve widely.