Bishop Larry Silva will ordain Vincent Ahn Vu and Romple Emwalu priests of the Diocese of Honolulu, together at 6 p.m., May 17, in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Vincent Ahn Vu
Deacon Vincent Ahn Vu
When Vincent Ahn Vu is “vested” or has his new priestly garments put on after being ordained on May 17, the person vesting him will be Benedictine Father Joseph Nguyen, his spiritual director at Mount Angel College Seminary in Oregon.
Also there in spirit will be someone Vu considers his spiritual father, Father Vincent Kien Nguyen, who served for many years as the chaplain of Hawaii’s Vietnamese Holy Martyrs Catholic Community and passed away in January. He helped guide young Vincent toward the priesthood.
Vu first felt the priestly call as a 7-year-old growing up in Vietnam. His parents, Vu Son Hung and Phuong Thi Nguyen, brought their seven children to Hawaii in 2002 where they joined his mother’s siblings. Vu and his fraternal twin sister, Nguyet Anh Vu, are the youngest of the seven kids.
The family is now part of the Vietnamese Catholic community at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa where Vu became a youth minister and an altar server.
As a Radford High School junior, he contacted then-vocations director Father Peter Dumag about pursuing his vocation. Once he graduated from Radford in 2008, he went to Mount Angel College Seminary in Oregon where he earned his bachelor’s degree in theology in 2013. He is set to graduate this May with a master’s degree in theology from St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
Vu, 29, says he’s felt supported in his vocation all the way across the ocean, especially appreciating the quarterly “Adopt-A-Seminarian” care packages that Hawaii Catholics send to local seminarians studying on the mainland.
“Those eased our Hawaii food cravings,” he said. “It shows that people still see the importance of nurturing the [priestly] vocation, and we appreciate them for their generous hearts and support.”
Vu was ordained a transitional deacon on Dec. 28, 2018, at his home parish, the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa. He and Deacon Romple Emwalu also will be ordained there as priests by Bishop Larry Silva on May 17. As suggested by their tri-lingual invitations, the ordination is likely to be a multicultural celebration mixing Vu’s Vietnamese and Emwalu’s Chuukese heritages.
“I feel ready,” Vu said. “Preparations are almost complete. School is almost done.”
“I ask for prayers for myself, Deacon Romple and our classmates as we are getting close to our final steps,” he added. “Pray that we follow our way of life to the end and that God’s grace will be with us to help us on this journey.”
Vu’s Mass of Thanksgiving, usually the first post-ordination Mass a new priest presides at by himself, will be May 19 at 1 p.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
He will then be assigned as parochial vicar at St. Jude Parish in Kapolei.
Romple Emwalu
Deacon Romple Emwalu
For Romple Emwalu, the most exciting part of his approaching priesthood will be celebrating Mass, not just attending it.
“I’m excited to serve Mass at the altar,” said the 37-year-old who was born in Polowat, the western-most island in the Federated States of Micronesia’s State of Chuuk. Emwalu will be the first Diocese of Honolulu priest of Chuukese descent.
He’s the eighth of 20 children of his mother, Siena Kauka Emwalu. His father passed away in 1997 and his mother married his father’s brother, Celestino. He grew up in Polowat where he attended elementary and middle school before going to high school in Weno, Chuuk’s capital.
After high school, he enrolled at the Chuuk campus of the College of Micronesia-FSM for about a semester before moving to the national campus in Pohnpei State to further his studies in liberal arts, with a minor in media studies. He also earned a certificate to teach middle school and got a job at the college’s Office of Admissions and Registration.
His family eventually moved to Hawaii. Emwalu’s stepfather is a permanent deacon, ordained in Chuuk in 2010 for the Diocese of the Caroline Islands, now serving at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Wahiawa.
Emwalu taught elementary school in Pohnpei State from 2006 to 2007. In 2008, he decided to pursue his education at the University of Hawaii, enrolling at Leeward Community College to study digital and graphic arts.
Emwalu soon became active with the youth and young adult ministry at St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Parish in Mililani. On his own he would visit a Mililani senior residence to volunteer.
He also worked part time at Ross department store and as a military base custodian before getting a full-time job in construction, helping build homes on military bases.
When a canonization celebration for St. Damien took place at Iolani Palace in 2009, Emwalu was there listening to the speeches, including one by Bishop Larry Silva. The event was “an inspirational moment I’ll never forget,” he said. “It was one part of what really pushed me forward to come to the seminary.”
Emwalu was accepted by the diocese as a candidate for priesthood in 2010 and he entered Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon to study for the required college degree in philosophy. He graduated in 2014 and proceeded to St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, for his master’s degree in theology, which he will earn in May.
Part of his formation included a pastoral year “in the field” at St. Catherine Parish on Kauai.
He was ordained a transitional deacon on May 25, 2018, at St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in Mililani. That’s where his Mass of Thanksgiving will also take place on May 18 at 5 p.m. after he is ordained a priest on May 17.
He will then be assigned as parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Parish in Aiea.
“I’m excited to come back home and really see the reality out there,” he said. “Seminary sometimes feels superficial with its nine years of studies and books. I’m ready to come out there and apply what I’ve learned in the community.”
Vincent Ahn Vu and Rompel Emwalu joining in their common hobby — hiking — with a parish youth group. Vu is standing top right, arm extended waving a shaka; Emwalu is lower center making a two armed gesture. (Photo courtesy of Rompel Emwalu)
Getting to know Vu
Hobbies: Hiking, soccer, pencil sketching
Favorite field of study at seminary: Medical ethics and moral theology. “It’s very meaningful because it not only helps me to make the right decisions but I can also help others in hard situations when they need the advice of a priest.”
Favorite saint: St. Vincent de Paul because of his ministry helping the poor and less fortunate
Favorite Scripture passage: John 15:12. “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”
Favorite non-church-related spot in Hawaii: Any hiking spot but especially the top of Koko Head Crater. “In hiking I can take it at my own pace and also allow myself to experience the big picture. It’s a way of slowing myself down, and it allows me to capture the beautiful view along the way and wonder at God’s creation.”
Where’s Emwalu
Hobbies: Surfing, hiking, sightseeing, painting with oil and acrylics, sketching with charcoal. Occasionally sculpting and carving, playing basketball or soccer.
Favorite field of study at the seminary: Systematic theology with a focus on the Eucharist and the Holy Trinity. Scripture studies. “I love history and learning new things about the history of the church.”
Favorite saint: St. John Vianney, St. Damien of Molokai and St. Padre Pio
Favorite Scripture passage: John 13: 34-35. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
“My grandmother would often tell me and my siblings to love one another. She always showed us how much she loved us.”
Favorite non-church-related spot in Hawaii: “I love to go to beaches here in Hawaii, especially Haleiwa and Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu.”
