Fr Tai Pham is the first priest to be ordained for the Sydney Archdiocese this year, in a richly symbolic ordination ceremony that also celebrated his faith, family and cultural heritage. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP presided over the ordination ceremony, held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, on Saturday.
Fr Pham formally accepted his calling in front of a congregation at the Mass including his parents, siblings and extended family, clergy, parishioners, and the wider community. 
Conducting the opening words and blessing in Vietnamese, the archbishop set the tone for a multicultural ordination, which featured key figures from Fr Pham’s life and saw the presentation of several relics of early Vietnamese martyrs.
The first reading was conducted by Vietnamese seminarian Huy Tran, and the second, in her native tongue, by the newly ordained priest’s sister, Tessi Pham.
Towards the end of the Mass, Fr Pham addressed the worshippers, beginning with a story about his nephew asking him when he would be a priest, and concluding with how he can now say he is one.
He said his uncle, the late Fr Anthony Nguyen, was a great inspiration in his spiritual formation, and that of the rest of his family.
Giving a brief overview of his life to date, Fr Pham mentioned he had been travelling on a path towards marriage and career when called to priesthood, and said he was “still surprised” he passed the entrance exam to enter the seminary in Vietnam.
After the Mass, Fr Pham spent more than an hour imparting his blessings to a long queue of the faithful.
He said he was “grateful to God for everything” as the weather, following weeks of severe conditions, was “lovely” and so many people had attended his ordination.
Despite feeling like a “stranger in this country” upon his arrival in 2018, Fr Pham said he has come to know the Australian people through serving in parishes, and they have confided in him, he said.
“I’m so grateful for their trust and for their generosity,” he said.
Later this month, Fr Pham will travel to Vietnam to celebrate Mass in his home parish. From there, he will go on a pilgrimage to Rome, returning to Sydney in July to begin his priestly ministry
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“Looking forward to this day for years:” Fr Tai Pham is 2025’s first priest ordained for the Archdiocese of Sydney (By Tara Kennedy, The Catholic Weekly)
