On Wednesday, Feb. 2, Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, was installed as the 16th provincial superior of the U.S. Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians). He was elected to the position by fellow SCJ priests and brothers Jan. 4 during the province’s Election Assembly.
Originally from Vietnam, Fr. Vien, 48, immigrated to the United States when he was 16. His family is now based in Houston.
Prior to his election, Fr. Vien was vice rector and assistant professor of Scripture Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners. Seminarians for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee do their academic studies at Sacred Heart.
Fr. Vien professed his first vows as a religious in 1997, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2004. He has an master’s in divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
His first assignments were in parish ministry in Houston, first at Our Lady of Guadalupe (2004-05) and at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (2005-07). He then spent five years as a member of the province formation team, working with young men studying for religious life and the priesthood.
Fr. Vien has been on the faculty of SHSST since 2018. He has been published in a wide variety of theological and professional publications, including the Review of Biblical Literature, Journal of Biblical Theology, and The American Journal of Biblical Theology.
