This fall, we welcomed Fr. Peter Rong, SDS, into our USA Province Community. Fr. Peter was born into a Vietnamese Catholic family of seven. He was an altar server in his youth, a ministry that may have been the catalyst for his vocation to priesthood. “Being close to good priests inspired me to join the Salvatorians in 2009,” said Fr. Peter. “As of that moment, we did not have any community in Vietnam, so I went to the Philippines to begin continued “Vietnamese” the Salvatorian formation. I spent almost a year learning English.” It was during his time in the Philippines that he met the late Father Gregory Coulthard, SDS, who was one of his first formators.
Ultimately, he made his final profession in June 16, 2020, and was ordained a deacon the following day. Nearly a year later, on April 10, 2021, he was ordained a Salvatorian priest. Shortly after his ordination, he was sent to Madrid, Spain, to help in the Theologate. Just three years later, with the dedication of two formators and two formandi, a new community there had grown to 12 members coming from three continents and 10 nationalities.
Seeing the need for missionaries in Peru, the Salvatorian Generalate at the time asked Fr. Peter to join the mission work being done there upon completion of his contract in Spain. For nearly a year, he, along with two other Salvatorians, ministered at a remote parish, caring for the spiritual needs of some 30 villages.
Most recently, Fr. Peter was asked to travel to the USA Province to assist with ministry. He arrived in September and has been welcomed into the Provincial House community and Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As he acclimates to life in the USA, he is taking a course on pastoral counseling in a multicultural Church at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He is helping with Masses at nearby parishes and being a very active member of his new community. He is preparing to move to full-time parish work by early next year.
“Fr. Peter brings to our Province and the people we serve a unique perspective of the Church that will broaden our experience of Christ in our world,” said Fr. Tom Tureman, USA Province Provincial. “His gift of pastoral care and formation will go a long way in making the savior knownin the communities we serve.”
Fr. Peter shared his favorite quote from Blessed Francis Jordan’s Spiritual Diary: “Live and act each day as if it were your last.” He said, “This reminds me always to be grateful to God and to live fully each new day.”
