Sts. Anthony of Padua and Lê Văn Phung Parish in Baton Rouge was formerly named St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Besides St. Anthony, the new name also honors St. Lê Văn Phung, a Vietnamese martyr, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in June 1988. It also indicates that the parish is now the home of most of the Vietnamese Catholic community in Baton Rouge.
When and how did the Vietnamese come to the parish?
The story started over 35 years ago when South Vietnam was lost to the Communist from the North. In July 1975, the first 5 Vietnamese families came to Baton Rouge from refugee camps. All were sponsored by the Diocese. For the first several months, they were living in the old “white house” across the street from St. Anthony Church, which has been torn down. Among those 5 families was a widow, and one of her children was a 16 year-old boy named Than Vu who did not speak English.
More Vietnamese “boat people” refugees came to town from many refugee camps in Southeast Asia during the following 15 years. In 1990 there were approximately 2,000 Vietnamese in Baton Rouge, half of them were Catholics and worshiped at St. Anthony.
St. Anthony has officially become the Vietnamese Catholic Community’s home parish. The current pastor is Fr. Peter Tan Viet Nguyen, from Dallas, Texas.
Under the pastorate of Fr. Joseph the Vincent Liem Sunday School was established. Now the school has 350 students from grades one through twelve. Classes meet from 10:00AM to 12:30 PM on Sundays except during the summers.
Currently, Sts. Anthony of Padua and Lê văn Phung parish has 597 Vietnamese families registered as members among the total of 733 families. The Vietnamese live everywhere in Baton Rouge and the surrounding towns, and while many of them have chosen to register at other Catholic churches near their homes, many return to worship at St. Anthony and participate in the Vietnamese Apostolate.