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April 25, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 8Oakland,
CA
Rector named for new diocesan cathedral
By Carrie McClish
Staff writer
Father Quang Dong, a native of Viet Nam who arrived
in the U.S. more than 20 years ago, has been appointed the first rector
of the new Cathedral of Christ the Light, also to become the home of St.
Francis de Sales-St. Mary Parish.
Father Dong will succeed Jesuit Father Peter McGrath, who has been parochial
administrator at St. Mary-St. Francis since 1997. The appointment will
be effective this summer.
It is “a privilege and honor to be asked” to take on this
new role, said Father Dong, who has been pastor at St. Joseph Parish in
Pinole since 1998.
But at the same time the priest, who will turn 45 in June, admitted that
he was shocked to be tapped for the position.
“There are so many talented priests in the Diocese of Oakland who
are more experienced and well respected than I,” he said. But Father
Dong also said that life experiences have given him the resilience and
skills needed to meet the challenges ahead.
A native of Bien Hoa, Vietnam, he grew up in Saigon as the middle child
in a family of five children. He was in high school studying for the priesthood
when communist authorities interrupted his studies. Five years later,
in 1980, he and one of his three sisters left Vietnam.
They boarded a boat with some 75 other passengers, endured 22 pirate attacks
on their vessel and finally arrived in Malaysia. The siblings spent six
months in Malaysia before coming to the East Bay, where they were reunited
with a brother who had escaped earlier. The rest of the family eventually
joined them in the U.S.
After settling in Hayward, Dong and his family members took English classes
at a Lutheran church, where parishioners encouraged him to continue his
studies for the priesthood.
He later graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View and
St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park and was ordained by Bishop John Cummins
in 1991.
He served as parochial vicar at Queen of All Saints Parish in Concord
and Our Lady Queen of the World Parish in Bay Point before he joined St.
Joseph in Pinole as parochial vicar in 1995. He became pastor in 1998.
Recalling that parishioners in Pinole stood and applauded when he announced
his appointment as pastor, Father Dong said it made a difference being
appointed pastor at a parish where he was already known.
“It was a comfortable feeling that you didn’t have to go through
the changing of hearts, the conversion of people,” he said. “Of
course there’s always someone who dislikes or disapproves of what
you do, but I am not here to please the people but to serve God.”
Being a first-time pastor has been a great challenge, Father Dong said.
He has had to balance the parish budget, fix a leaky baptismal font, oversee
the construction of a new parish school building, and install new kneelers,
flooring and a sound system in the church.
The community faced those challenges by working on them together, which
has made his time with them rewarding.
“You are really there for the people, you journey with them to build
the Kingdom of God and do wonderful things together,” he said.
Father Dong will face new challenges when he moves to Oakland this summer.
He will have to help parishioners at St. Mary-St. Francis prepare to move
to a new site and become core members of the new cathedral community when
the cathedral is built.
“Nobody can come and lead them. They are the ones who will lead
me with their many gifts,” Father Dong said. This two-way communication
will also help him navigate the work facing the new cathedral parish staff.
Father Dong said he will also rely on the mission statement for the new
cathedral, expressed by Bishop Allen Vigneron in the April 11 issue of
The Voice.
In his remarks Bishop Vigneron said that the structure will not only be
the site of liturgical celebrations that will bring the many diocesan
communities together but also will serve many of its neighbors in need.
This includes caring for the poor in downtown Oakland and encouraging
people to do more for others, Father Dong added.
The new rector also plans to learn what he can from others who have been
in his shoes. He will talk to other rectors and the Los Angeles Archdiocese,
where he will learn firsthand about the experiences of launching and operating
a new cathedral.
“I am excited and anxious to learn,” he said. “The cathedral
is not just a building but a place to glorify God’s name.”
Groundbreaking for the new cathedral, to be built at the corner of Grand
Avenue and Harrison Street in Oakland, is set for May 21 at 1:30 p.m.
Other recently announced pastoral assignments include:
Father Athanasius Abanulo, parochial vicar, to All Saints Parish in Hayward;
Father Declan Dean, parochial vicar, to All Saints Parish, both effective
April 15; Father Fernando Sampaio, parochial vicar, to St. Catherine Parish
in Martinez; Father Hugo Hernandez, parochial vicar, to St. Bede Parish
in Hayward, both effective May 1.
Father
Quang Dong
