New priest Thomas Pham: A sign of hope in Vienna

New priest Thomas Pham: A sign of hope in Vienna

Last weekend there was a significant ordination in Vienna. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn inaugurates Frater Thomas Pham on Saturday, who takes a remarkable step in his religious career at the age of 42. Thomas Pham, who comes from Vietnam, has been a provincial economist of the Austrian Order Province of the Merciful Brothers since January 2023 and has been a prior of the "Metropolitan convent" in Vienna-Leopoldstadt since April 2023. The ceremony took place in the church of the hospital order on Taborstrasse and attracted around 300 believers, including numerous brothers from Central and Eastern Europe. This consecration increases the total number of priests that were consecrated this year in Austria to a total of 23.

Thomas Pham was born in Vietnam in 1982 and grew up in a believing environment. After his school days, he originally decided to study journalism. However, strong pressure on the part of the church, in a country controlled by the communist government, led to it to reject this path. Instead, he came to Vienna, where he met a woman from his home provincial of the merciful brothers Austria. Here he went through his novitiate and dared to take the step into religious life with various stations that led him to Graz. He took off his eternal profession in 2014.

appeal and commitment

In Austria, Frater Thomas also devoted himself to nursing: he graduated as a nurse and decided in 2019 to start studying theology, which accompanied him until the ordination. His consecration for the deacon took place on April 27, 2024 in Vienna, together with candidates of two seminars there. Now he has the opportunity to get involved in hospital pastoral care, which is particularly important to him. "The focus is on the sick person looking for help," he emphasizes.

The ordination is not common in the order of the merciful brothers. The founder of the order Johannes von Gott, who founded a community in the 16th century that devoted himself to the care of the sick and socially disadvantaged, placed new standards that shaped the modern hospital system. His approach included separate rooms for patients and the introduction of documentation as well as special care for mentally ill people. John of God was canonized in 1690 and is considered a patron saint of the sick and nursing professions.

The merciful brothers are active in 54 countries with over 410 institutions of health and social work. In the Austrian Order Province, which also includes the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, more than 9,600 employees work in around 30 facilities, including hospitals, old people's and nursing homes, and institutions for people with disabilities. In 2023, the Austrian institutions recorded around 126,500 inpatient recordings and around 810,000 outpatient patient contacts. These impressive numbers are proof of the commitment of the order in the field of health and social care.

frater Thomas Pham emphasizes the importance of his new role and his commitment to the people who need his help. For further details on the Order of the Order and the various areas of activity of the merciful brothers you can inform yourself about the information of the Mercy brothers