(Copied from St. Michael's in Bedford)
The first thing you will notice when meeting Fr. Khiem Nguyen, is his wide, bright smile. However, he was born in the country formerly known as South Vietnam. Any student of history will be able to recount stories of the thousands of South Vietnamese fleeing to find refuge across the world, many finding homes in the United States. Some members of Fr. Khiem’s family had already immigrated when he left Vietnam at the age of 17. Leaving his mother and sisters behind and becoming one of the Vietnamese boat people was a terrifying experience. During his escape, he said a prayer promising Our Lady that he would become a priest if he made it to safety.
In 1989, he joined a religious order in Carthage, Missouri, where the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix had relocated from Vietnam. Fr. Khiem stayed with the order for 16 years, continued his education, and even took final vows. As the years passed, however, he found his temperament was no longer suited to living apart from the world in a religious community. In 2005, he moved back to the Fort Worth diocese, and soon joined the seminary. Just this past June, he was ordained as a parish priest, and he was assigned to St. Michael in July, 2011, fulfilling his promise made to Our Lady so many years ago.