Fr. Hao Dinh was ordained a priest in 1993 by Bishop Pierre DuMaine. Since then, he has worked as a parochial vicar or pastor in eight different parishes, and served as dean of Deanery 5, which includes nine parishes in the Campbell-Cupertino-Los Gatos-Saratoga-West San Jose area. At the same time as he was fulfilling his duties at Ascension Parish (2019), he also assisted Bishop Cantú in the Chancery as Vicar General (2019) and Chancellor (2020) until June 30, 2023.

His path to the priesthood started in 1969 when he entered St. Joseph’s Seminary in Saigon as a minor seminarian, just six days after the first human landed on the moon. He had no idea that this journey would take much longer than he anticipated. The fall of Saigon to North Vietnam in 1975 ended the war, but peace was not achieved. Consequently, his priestly formation was disrupted and extended. Those who continued the seminary formation faced scrutiny and limitations imposed by the new government. After the seminary was closed again in 1982, just as he was nearing the completion of his theology studies, he emigrated to Calgary, Canada with his parents and two brothers in 1985. Three years later, he was accepted into St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Jose on May 15, 1993, exactly 24 years after he passed the entrance exam at the seminary in Vietnam on May 15, 1969. When he started his seminary formation in 1969, he could never have imagined becoming a priest in San Jose. His journey was filled with many twists and turns and took much longer than expected, from Saigon to San Jose, from 1969 to 1993. It’s truly an adventure, and it’s even more thrilling than landing on the moon!

Fr. Hao