In a new ABC Education series Journeys of Hope from Vietnam, the story of our Parramatta Bishop, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, is offered not merely as a personal testimony but as a profound witness to faith, migration, and human resilience.
Designed for high school students from Years 7-10 across Australia and aligned to the History, Civics and Citizenship curriculum, the ABC Education series showcases five individual stories of Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and communist regime, searching for safety, security, freedom and a new place to call home.
Organised with the Vietnamese Museum Australia – Australia’s first museum dedicated to honouring and preserving the powerful stories of Vietnamese refugees and their journey to a new life in Australia – the series aims to educate students on the “migration stories, inviting them to reflect on themes of resilience, courage and belonging, while gaining a deeper understanding of the contributions Vietnamese Australians have made to our shared community.”
Bishop Vincent’s episode includes his dangerous journey by boat, spending a year in a refugee camp in Malaysia and eventually arriving in Melbourne in 1981.
He details his experience of starting a new life in an unfamiliar place, learning a new language and pursuing his calling to the priesthood. His chosen motto as bishop [plunge] “into the deep” is a reflection of his literal boat journey across the ocean and the courage required to embrace the unknown.
Along with Thu-Trang Tran, Dinh Nguyen, Yen Bui and Tien Kieu, students are asked to wonder and reflect on the experiences of these five Vietnamese refugees and explore the ways in which they have not only contributed to but enriched Australian society.
These five stories all speak of suffering, but also of perseverance, generosity, and renewal. In this shared history, Bishop Vincent’s life becomes a lens through which we see the broader witness of a people who carried their faith, culture, and hope across oceans.
For a Catholic audience, the series offers more than historical insight; it becomes a meditation on the Church as a pilgrim people. Bishop Vincent’s journey, from refugee to shepherd, echoes a deeper theological truth: that the Church is often most alive not in comfort, but in movement, in vulnerability, and in trust.
In this way, Journeys of Hope from Vietnam becomes something more than an educational resource. It is an invitation to listen, to remember, and to recognise Christ in the lives of those who have journeyed through suffering into new life.
You can watch the series HERE.
Sharing Bishop Vincent’s story supports the Diocesan Pastoral Plan priorities of Listening, Dialogue and Discernment and the objective of being a Church that Reaches to the Margins and Listens. Visit Synodality to learn more.
