Black Belt In Faith And Fortitude (Đức Tin Và Sự Kiên Cường Của Một Sư Huynh Dòng De La Salle, Cao thủ Võ Thuật Đai Đen)

These days, Fr Quang Hong Pham serves God in freedom, ministering among the Vietnamese Catholic community in Perth. He uses some of the 400 card tricks he learnt while a religious prisoner in Vietnam to delight local children.

I was born in Saigon on January 17, 1949 and had three sisters (one passed away at childbirth) and four brothers.

My whole family was Catholic and I attended a Catholic school taught by the De La Salle brothers. One brother particularly stuck in my mind – Brother Aimee.

That means “beloved”. He was so lovely. He organised youth activities and after school he taught Catechism very gently and very delicately.

That touched every heart. He lived very humbly, like a poor person and loved children.

At the age of 14, I joined the De La Salle Congregation although I must confess I didn’t know anything about vocations.

It was just a natural call to be like that one brother whom I loved the best.

Before entering the priesthood as a late vocation, I had been a De La Salle Brother for 40 years. I joined in 1963 and, on the Feast of the Assumption in 1975, I made my final vow and then I went to prison.

When the Communists took over South Vietnam they tried to take all the monasteries and buildings to do with religion.

In my case, we were put in jail along with the other three big Congregations: Dominican, Redemptorists and Salesians of Don Bosco – we all went together.

They confiscated our monasteries and accused us of attempting a coup against the government. No proof, no evidence was given.

In jail, it was strictly forbidden to learn any foreign language, to talk about religion or to do any services associated with religion. Otherwise, you would be put in the dungeon.

When I first came to jail I had two years in a dark cell completely alone.

My hands were handcuffed behind my back and they put shackles around my ankles.

Until now I don’t know how I survived it other then it was with God’s help. I kept my mind open by remembering every story I had read including Bible stories as well as novels, then praying a little bit and after that I continued to learn and conjugate the verbs in French.

The worst part of that period was the loneliness. The cell was completely dark. Except at midnight when they woke you up for interrogation.

It was terrible. Then I realised I had friends. Rats came and crawled on my chest.

I accepted that and said, “Hello friends, stay here”. And the next day a lot came.

Then I made little friends out of the cockroaches. They were everywhere. Never mind. I wasn’t lonely anymore.

In my first week in prison, the interrogator said to me, “If you say you don’t believe in God, I will release you. Just say it in your mouth. If you still believe, we won’t know”.

I thought I would be like St Peter. Peter denied Jesus and He forgave Him. I tried to say it but after one week I realised that I could not deny Him even in my mouth.

I was tempted to hesitate for the first time in my life but I found the strength to affirm my faith when I saw the interrogation room stained with the blood of all the other prisoners there on the wall.

I was shaken and suddenly I remembered the blood of Jesus – on His cross was the same blood. I said, “No, I cannot make Him shed blood again.”

So I said to the interrogator, “No. I will never say that.” That was my first conversion.

When I moved to the common rooms there were hundreds of prisoners. I organised story telling every night for two hours and they called me “Cinema.”

For the next eight years that I was in jail I tried to tell them every detail I remembered and sometimes I would imagine and invent.

When I told a story they would give me a bit of sugar to give me energy to go on and all who had received a gift would share it with the Cinema.

My family did not know where I was until I had spent seven years in jail and when they found me they sent me a piece of sugar – that’s all because that was all they could spare.

The best story I told to convert all the non-Catholics to Catholic was Quo Vadis. I had seen the movie and I had already read the book in French so it was easy to tell the story in Vietnamese.

It took me eight months to tell the story. After that I found out that some prisoners came to the priests to be baptised. That was very moving.

I was sentenced in prison for 13 years. After I stayed for over ten years I had Amnesty.

Those that had less than three years left of their sentence were released.

God said, “That’s enough for you.” That was 1998. I have done martial arts since I was eight years old and have a black belt in Karate, Judo, Tae-Kwon-Do, Aikido and Kendo and the government needed instructors so that was what I became.

Then my Vietnamese Karate group was invited to attend the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.

I was the coach of a team of 10 athletes. We went to Australia in 1998 for an intensive ‘Martial Art Training Course’ preparing for the Games and, after the Olympics, everyone escaped to begin a new life in Australia, including me.

That is why I have my name on the blacklist of the Vietnamese government.

They accused me of organising the escape but after the training course everyone escaped privately. How could I come home alone to go to jail again?

After several attempts, I discovered with my limited English that I could not teach in the Catholic schools of the De La Salle Brothers.

I realised many Vietnamese immigrants would be in the same position with their English and I decided the best way I could help them was in the Sacramental ministry, Reconciliation and all the pastoral ministries.

That’s why I went to St Charles’ seminary to become a priest and sat for an interview with Bishop Don Sproxton and the staff.

They must have looked at me and thought I was too old at the age of 53!! But they accepted me and, in June 2003, I left my Congregation to join St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford.

On May 12, 2006 I was ordained a priest by Archbishop Barry Hickey and was the last one to be ordained at the old St Mary’s Cathedral before it was renovated. I am happy to be the old man ordained in the old Cathedral.

I served at Lockridge Parish, Port Kennedy Parish and now I am an Assistant Priest at the Vietnamese Community Catholic Centre. The Parish Priest is Rev Fr Huynh Nguyen.

I must confess that I learnt magic tricks whilst I was in prison. A lot of prisoners are experts at pick-pocketing. Now I can open any lock (I couldn’t escape from prison because they gave us nothing made in metal, only plastic).

I used to know 400 card tricks when I was a prisoner and now I still remember over 40. I used my magic tricks with cards as a way to connect with children in my ministry.

It is easy to perform one trick and then they stay and listen to me.

I think God didn’t call me once. Instead, I like the definition that God calls you in every stage of your life and you respond at each stage.

Father Quang Hong Pham's vocation story was told to Debbie Warrier (5/9/13)

www.therecord.com.au/perpectives/columnists/black-belt-in-faith-and-fortit

Trên đây là câu chuyện cuộc đời của một linh mục đang làm mục vụ cho cộng đồng giáo dân ở Perth, thủ phủ của Tây Úc được kể lại trong một cuộc phỏng vấn của một nữ phóng viên người Úc.

Linh mục Phạm Quang Hồng trước 75 là một sư huynh dòng tu Lasan. Khi cộng sản cưỡng chiếm miền Nam, với chủ thuyết vô thần, nhà nước cộng sản VN coi tất cả các tu sĩ là phạm nhân. Tất cả những cơ sở liên quan đến tôn giáo như chủng viện, nhà thờ nhà dòng, chùa chiền, thánh thất đều bị xung công cướp trắng trợn. Mà một khi đã là thằng ăn cướp thì bọn chúng có vô số lý do hoặc cần gì lý do, muốn bắt ai là bắt, muốn kết tội ai là cứ chụp mũ, lên án rồi nhốt tù. Đó là chính sách dã man luật rừng của bọn cộng sản độc tài đảng trị phi nhân quyền. 

Sư Huynh Hồng là một trong số những phạm nhân bị quy vào tội danh phản động đi ngược lại với chính sách của bọn chúng, đã bị biệt giam hai năm, bị tra tấn hành hạ, chịu bao cực hình như thành phần cựu chiến binh có nợ máu với chúng, sống còn hơn chết vì tinh thần bất khuất, một lòng trung thành với tín ngưỡng của mình, không hèn nhát chối bỏ Chúa. Chúng kêu án ông 13 năm tù nhưng sau đó không biết vì sao lại giảm xuống còn 10 năm.    

Vốn là một võ sư thượng thừa của nhiều môn võ, sau khi ra tù, ông đã được nhà nước thu dụng trong việc huấn luyện đào tạo võ sinh cho nhà nước cộng sản VN.

Năm 1998 nhân VN có danh sách được mời tham dự Thế Vận Hội Olympic 2000 được tổ chức tại Sydney Úc Châu, Sư Huynh Hồng đã được chỉ thị dẫn 10 môn sinh qua Úc trau dồi, luyện tập thêm để chờ ngày dự đấu. 

Mười võ sinh đó sau khi hòan thành nhiệm vụ, mỗi người đã tự tìm một lý do để xin tị nạn ở lại Úc. Riêng Sư Huynh Hồng cũng không thể trở về vì tên ông đã bị vào sổ đen của nhà nước cộng sản VN với tội danh là chủ mưu tổ chức cuộc đào thóat. Do đó, ông đã được Bộ Di Trú Úc chấp thuận cho tị nạn chính trị định cư.  

Ở Sydney khỏang hai năm, Sư Huynh Hồng dọn về Tây Úc, xin vào đại chủng viện St Charles với mục đích trở thành linh mục để trọn lời khấn suốt đời được chăn dắt giáo dân, phụng vụ làm rạng danh Thiên Chúa, đấng sáng tạo muôn lòai. 

Đây là tấm ảnh Sư Huynh Hồng đã chụp với gia đình chúng tôi trong thời gian lưu trú tại nhà dòng De la Salle Marrickville, Sydney January 2001. Trong bữa ăn, ông đã kể lại những trò ảo thuật mà ông đã biểu diễn giúp vui bạn tù và giờ đây ông đã dùng chiêu thức này khuyến dụ trẻ em để chúng ngoan ngỏan ngồi yên chăm chỉ trong giờ thánh lễ.  

Người Phương Nam